Travels

July 1st, 2022

After a few days visiting with my mother and sister in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, I finally started the long drive to the mountains. My first destination would be Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

I left the Minneapolis area the afternoon of June 30th, looking to overnight somewhere around Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I cut across the state of Minnesota on a southwest diagonal, hitting Interstate 90 near Worthington. I found a spot I could get some sleep at the Flying J Truck Stop in Sioux Falls. It was a little noisy there in the evening, with the sound of trucks, airplanes landing at the airport to the south and an occasional freight train to the east. After dark, it became quiet.

The next morning, I logged into work using my hotspot to begin the last of 5 days before my official retirement. Later I drove into the South Dakota prairie. I made an occasional stop at rest areas to walk about along with more often frequent stops for fuel. With only an 18 gallon tank, and getting about 13-14 miles per gallon, I needed to refuel often, paying around $4.60 a gallon. In Chamberlain, after crossing the Missouri River, I purchased a few groceries. My next stop was Wall, South Dakota, where I visited the trap known as Wall Drug. In all my trips to backpack in Montana and Wyoming, I had only ever been there once before, way back in 1977. It was the same as I remembered. However, I decided to purchase a new bird identification book as well as a brief guide to trails in the Badlands. Wall Drug has a small bookstore.

Next I headed into the National Park to find a dispersed campsite. I found one on the ridgeline with a view into the badlands just in time to watch an incoming thunder storm. On the plains you can see for many miles and it took over an hour for the storm to approach. Once it passed, a double rainbow appeared.

In 1975, I drove across the plains for the first time. In those days, I could not afford to fly to the mountains. And, working at the time in various factory jobs, I had very little vacation, usually 1 week at the most. Since the drive time was from 22 – 25 hours, I often drove non-stop in order to reduce the time needed to get there and back. In the 70s the speed limit was only 55 miles per hour. It took longer than today where the limit on I-90 is 80 mph in South Dakota. If you took 2 days to drive out and 2 to drive back, that left you with 5 days to enjoy activities. I did not dawdle, only making combination fuel/food stops when necessary. It came as a pleasant surprise to find myself now with plenty of time. With no time constraints, for the first time I was able to make a more leisurely trip. I stopped at rest areas whenever I felt the need to stretch my legs. I did not have to rush to get gas and food before hopping back on the highway. I sat at the overlook above the Missouri river and enjoyed lunch at a shaded picnic table. This was excellent! No counting “Paid Time Off” days and no returning to work on Monday morning.