Saturday, October 13, 2001

Hello from Interior, South Dakota!

Start time: 0830

Start odometer: 18655

Weather: Rain overnight, mostly sunny this morning, 46 degrees F.

Highlights:

Had rain overnight, but was mostly sunny in the morning. Very windy, with forecasted gusts to sixty-five miles an hour later in the day.
Drove into town to visit the famous Wall Drug Store! Learned some of the history of the place. They have many, many pictures and news clippings on a lot of the walls, and have areas set aside for additional pictures and stories! Numerous stores provide a wide variety of products. This is an interesting "store!"
Drove into the Badlands National Park. Quite an interesting and fascinating place! Incredible views, colors, rock formations, and with the strong winds, the prairie grass was creating wonderful displays of "waves!" Much wildlife seen, including mule deer, prairie dogs, coyotes, and maybe one hundred Bison!
Drove the park loop road to another side road (gravel again!) After completing that portion of the drive, headed back towards the park. Had a little sprinkle as clouds had moved in through the day, the saw an incredible rainbow to the east! A short time later, the sunset was spectacular! What a great way to finish up the sunlight portion of the day.
Drove four miles south of Interior, South Dakota, and found a sign to Badlands Ranch and Resort. Met the proprietors Joyce and Jacob, and selected a cabin for the evening. After a nice "home style" dinner in Interior, I returned to the main house at the ranch. I met another of their guests, Edward. He had just arrived from England, and will be spending two weeks in the U. S., the first week with Jacob and Joyce. I had a very interesting conversation with this self-employed headhunter, with many topics of discussion. I also got an answer for a long time question of mine, the significance of the song "Jerusalem" in England, with words by Blake (music by ???). Edward will be horseback riding as much as he can this week, learning the western saddle.
When Edward was signing the guestbook, he noted many non-U. S. guests. Jacob mentioned that over sixty-five percent of their guests are from outside the U.S.! Joyce made some stew for Edward's dinner, and shared some with me. Delicious! The pie afterwards was a nice touch too!
I returned to my cabin, but stopped outside to see the sky. It was a clear night and the moon was below the horizon, which brought out so many stars! As usual, I saw a satellite, and had a meteor shoot through the sky. A beautiful night outside!