_Day 50 - 03 August - 73 Miles
Wall Drug - Badlands
_The Road
The morning was spent at getting supplies and in general gawking at the panalapy that is Wall Drug. It’s not a store as much as it is a mall, complete with history and tourist attractions. A café across the street provided a quieter place for lunch. The Parks The road south out of Wall is the beginning of the Badlands loop. The wind had picked up so much by time we reached the toll gate, about five miles in, that we considered turning around ... until we looked behind us! The clouds were rolling in and the sky was green over Wall. With 25 miles to the Visitor’s Center and no cover in between, going on was risky, though the sky was still bright ahead of us. We raced the storm east, wondering what the bikers heading west into it were thinking! I now knew what the dream of death in the Black Hills was warning me of, and I was scared. Parking the bikes between a couple larger vehicles at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center we barely had time for a cigarette before the storm hit! Thunder, lightening, wind, and hail! It was awesome to watch from the safety of the café windows. Rosie and Shelley survived well, thanks to the shelter of trucks along side them. Lodging No camping tonight. Once the storm let up to a reasonable rain, we rode on to Kadoka. |