Wall Drug Store, Wall SD

On our way back to the RV park from the Badlands we stopped in the little town (pop. 818) of Wall to visit Wall Drug Store.

Apparently this is a famous attraction known to all around the US.  Supposedly there are signs in many other states advertising Wall Drug Store and giving the miles in thousands to their location in Wall, South Dakota.  I must have been living in a cave because I never had heard of them nor ever seen any of their signs.

Wall Drug Store now covers  76,000 square feet of many free attractions.  It has everything from shops, a children's play area, picnic area, travelers chapel, restaurant, ice cream parlor, photo op area, art gallery, donut factory...and I'm sure I missed mentioning a few.  

But what is interesting is the story of their success, when, in 1931  Ted and Dorothy Hustead bought the only drug store in Wall, SD.  Mr. Hustead was a pharmacist and their dream was to own their own drug store, in a small town, with a Catholic Church.   Wall, SD met all three of their wishes.    Several months passed and business was bad.   They gave themselves five years to make a go of the business but as that timeline was approaching,  business hadn't improved much.  They lived in the back of the store and one evening Dorothy couldn't sleep and went to the front to find Ted .  He asked her if she couldn't sleep because it was too hot and she replied "No, it wasn't the heat that kept me awake, it was all the cars going by on Route 16A".

Dorothy then got the idea that all of those travelers driving across the hot prairie would be thirsty and want ice cold water.  They had plenty of ice and plenty of water, so they started putting up signs on the highway telling people to come to their drugstore for free ice water.   Shortly after the signs were erected people came pouring in for free ice water that lead them to buying ice cream cones and other products.  The next summer they had to hire eight girls to help.    The store is now owned and operated by their son and Wall Drug draws up to 20,000 people on a good summer day.

I believe it.   The day we were there it was packed.  

Map of grounds.

Back yard boardwalk.

Inside mall.

Travelers chapel.

Fountain where you can still get free ice cold water.

Ron made me get up on this stupid jack-a-lope.

Just two big kids.

This is really why we stopped.

Hope all is well!

Welcome to the Badlands of South Dakota

Although the Badlands are 88 miles from our RV park we couldn't leave this area without exploring that part of the Black Hills.  The drive towards the Badlands is rolling hills of cattle ranches with more cattle ranches and even more cattle ranches.  So when you do finally approach the Badlands it is an awesome shock to see the geological landscape of buttes, spires and rolling grasslands.  A stark comparison!   But  a pleasant surprise.

 The Badlands are a part of the largest undisturbed mixed prairie range land remaining in the US. Within the park's 244,000 acres is the Badlands Wilderness, 64,000 acres of pristine national wilderness.

The park was established as a national monument in 1939 and re-designated as Badlands National park in 1978 and hosts approximately 1 million visitors each year.   It is considered one of the world's richest mammal fossil bed.   Fifty percent of the park is co-managed with the Oglala Lakota Nation, the 8th largest American Indian Reservation in the United States.

Approaching the Badlands Wall.

Geological formations.

As seen from one of the many trails.  They allow you to walk up to and even climb on the formations.  

No wonder they are eroding so fast!

One of the amazing sights  as you look at the buttes is  how the Badlands were deposited in layers.    Of the 6 layers the oldest formation exposed is the Pierre Shale - the black layer at the bottom, created by sediment filtering through the seawater forming a black mud on the sea floor that has since hardened into shale. 

When the sea drained away it exposed the black ocean mud to air creating the Yellow Mounds.

The greyish  Chadron  Formation was deposited

over 34 million years ago as the river flood plain replaced the sea. 

The Brule Formation deposited over 30 million years ago

 is the tannish brown deposit.  The red layers are fossil soil.

The two top layers are Rocky Ash, a thick layer of volcanic ash deposit and Sharps Formation is the top lighter color deposited by wind and water as the climate continues to dry and cool.

Some  of our  favorite stops during our last 2+ years of traveling have been the Grand  Canyon, Bryce NP, Zion NP and the Arches.  And although the Badlands are on a much smaller scale they are still an awesome sight.  

We saw some wildlife along this drive. 

Cute little prairie dog.

Bison, although from a distance.

  And an "exotic" long horn steer, that was able to escape the fence 

and was eating along the side of the road. 

Hope all is well!

Chapel in The Hills - Rapid City SD

One afternoon we spent a couple of hours at The Chapel of the Hills. The Chapel is situated on 30 acres nestled at the foot of the Black Hills and is a special ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  

The chapel  is an exact reproduction of the famous Borgund Stavkirke of Laerdal, Norway built around 1150.    It was originally built to house the Lutheran Vespers radio ministry.  Completed at this location  in 1969 and constructed from Douglas Fir.

                         

                        

Front entrance to the chapel and one of the side entrances.  

                                       There is a side entrance for men and another for women.

The simplicity of the stave construction is intended to reflect a
deeper understanding and a holistic expression.

 It is a stave church  which is a medieval wooden church with a post and beam 

construction related to timber framing.   

There are 12 hand-carved Apostles' heads circling the interior.

Baptismal font.  Very minimalistic.

Door and small window off the side of the altar.  Used by those with leprosy, so they could still participate. 

Bell tower of the same type of construction.

 Besides the chapel there is a "Stabbur" which is an authentic grass-roofed store house, built in Norway and assembled on site.  It serves as the visitor center and gift shop.  It's hard to see the grass because everything is so dry and burnt out. 

 Also on the grounds is an authentic log cabin museum of a prospectors home who came to the Black Hills during the gold rush.

Wood carvings of Lena and Ole greet you as you enter the museum

Many weddings take place here, and the day we visited was no exception.  There is a residence used for the wedding party to get ready for the ceremony.

There is a Prayer Walk which winds its way back into the hillside behind the Chapel.  Complete with benches and statuary, providing a sanctuary for reflection, prayer and meditation.

View of chapel from Prayer Walk.

   "Lord teach me to Pray" 

One of seven statues, each with it's own prayer topic.

For a complete tour  Chapel of Hills Prayer Walk.

There is no admission fee as the chapel is completely self-supporting, as no synodical or national funds are provided.   All support is through donations, gift shop purchases and wedding fees upwards of $200.00 for a weekend wedding, $50.00 for the pastor, $40.00 for the organist and $5.00 for a soloist.


Services are offered every night of the week and on Sunday and I imagine a collection basket is circulated at each of the services.


Hope all is well!

Needles Highway -Still in South Dakota

The bus tour included a drive on the scenic Needles Highway, Iron Mountain and the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway.  The Needles highway stretches 14 miles through granite structures and pine covered mountains. It cuts through  Custer State Park, known for narrow, windy roads and tunnels.

Signature granite "needles" rise out of the surrounding landscape of the Black Hills.

The Needle's Eye is one of the most memorable granite formations along the drive, formed by years of rain, ice and wind.  This picture is from the internet as my picture didn't turn out.

Many different shapes and sizes of granite formations.

The tunnels are very narrow.

The tour bus is 10 ft high and 8 ft wide.  A 2 inch clearance on each side was too close for me!

People waiting at the end of the tunnel to see if the bus makes it. 

Half way through, the driver stops the bus, turns on his emergency flashers, honks his horn and waves his arms making the spectators think he is stuck.

By the serious looks on their faces, they really do think he can't move.

The driver starts back up and proceeds through the tunnel to smiles,  applause and thumbs up gestures.

As you exit one of the tunnels this is what you see.



Another stop was at Sylvan Lake.  It is a beautiful lake nestled at the base of Harney Peak and surrounded by the impressive rock formations and ponderosa pine trees.  This area is complete with the lake for swimming, boating or fishing, hiking trails, a lodge and campground.

The only wildlife we saw was a few elks and a privately owned herd of buffalo.   We want to explore the area to find free roaming buffalo if we can.

 Hope all is well!

Crazy Horse Memorial

Part of our bus tour was a visit to Crazy Horse Memorial.  Sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski who worked on  Mount Rushmore, met with Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota Sioux and together they decided to undertake a memorial project to Native American Heroes.  Standing Bear's commission stated in part "My fellow Chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes too.".

Construction began in 1948 and is still far from completion. All funding is through the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a private, non-profit organization. It does not receive federal or state funding and has actually refused  2 - 10 million offers in the past from the federal government.  Ziolkowski died in 1982 and never saw the completion of the head which was finished in 1998.  His wife and seven of their 10 children work at the memorial.  A private investor has pledged $1 million a year for five years as matching donations were raised specifically to further work on the horse's head. Much of the earth moving equipment used is donated by corporations.


Crazy Horse was chosen as the symbol to represent all of the fallen Native American Heroes because it is believed his character represented the values that many Native tribes held dear, such as bravery, dedication to his people and a modest lifestyle.  There was some controversy in the choosing of the image of a man who refused to be photographed during his lifetime and who's wish was to be buried  where his grave would not be found.


The next step is completion of the head of the horse on which the warrior sits.  Once finished the 563 foot high mountain carving in the round will dominate the horizon.  Visitors will be able to drive around the spring-fed lake to the other side of the sculpture.  Once completed it will also include a satellite campus of the University of South Dakota.

Outline of where the horse's head will be carved.

Cast of how it will look at completion.  The size of the horse's head will be an overall height of 219 feet, the ears will be 42 feet long, the eyes will be 16 feet wide, 13 feet high, the nostrils will be 35 feet in diameter and 50 feet deep.  The horse's mane will be 62 feet high and Crazy Horse's hand will be 33 feet high.    As a comparison:   Crazy Horse will be 563 feet in the round, the largest Pyramid is 481 feet and the Washington Monument is 555 feet.  The head will be 87 feet high in comparison to the heads on Mount Rushmore at 60 feet high.

The complex now includes a Indian museum,  Native American Cultural Center, view of Ziolkowski's studio and a gift shop.

 Ziolkowski suggested the sculpture to be carved in the Wyoming Tetons because the rock was better for sculpting,  the Sioux leader insisted it be carved in the Black Hills, which are a sacred  burial ground for the  Lakota culture.

"My lands are where my dead lie buried" was reportedly said by Crazy Horse, and that is the symbolism of his extended hand.

Ziolkowski's oil painting of his wife, Ruth and a sculptured bust of him on a pedestal behind her.

Ziolkowski's bronze sculpture of Chief Standing Bear.

 Granite self portrait sculpture.

Bronze Fighting Stallions, another Ziolkowski's work of art, grace the entrance of the memorial.

The bus tour really didn't allow  sufficient time to see everything that is there, but we enjoyed what we did see.  We mentioned to each other that we will come back when it is finished, but quickly realized at the current rate of completion we will either be too old or in another world!

Hope all is well!