This morning was our last scrumptious breakfast at the Circle View Ranch.  We went downstairs just after 7 AM and Amy was still cooking.  So we helped ourselves to some of her homemade sour cherry granola.  It was mmm mmm good.  The rest of the breakfast was just as tasty.  She had sausage, scrambled eggs, biscuits, gravy, watermelon...If we stayed here too much longer, I would get fat!

Once again we chose to eat outside.   Before the hot breakfast portion was ready, Doug and I wandered around the outside a bit.  Boomer was out there relaxing in the shade.  Up above us on the porch was the black cat Cinder.  She kept acting like she was going to jump.  As she already had  a misshapen front leg and limped, I figured her jumping down was not a good thing.  She never did but she sure acted like she had a burr under her blanket to do it.

After we ate ourselves silly, we packed up the SUV and sadly backed out.  Right away we saw two white peahens standing on the roof of a red truck parked out front.  It's not every day you see something like that!  Of course Mabel and I had to take pictures.  Then we drove by the bunkhouse so Mabel could take pictures of the chickens.  I was looking for my donkey friends but they were nowhere to be seen.  With an entire ranch to wander in, I wasn't really surprised.  But I bet late this afternoon they will be back in front of the bunkhouse.  They will be missing us then.  We weren't quite to the ranch gate when we spotted them a ways away from the road over by a towering rock formation.  One was laying prone on the ground.  She must have been tired.  I waved good by and then we were out the gate and gone.

Once in the park we drove straight to Saddle Pass trailhead.  I was kind of hopping the guys had forgotten about that.  I should have known better.  At least the temperature was cooler today.  The high was only suppose to be in the mid 80s—a big change from 110.  I put my camera and phone in my fanny pack along with a water bottle, grabbed my hat and proceeded to the trail.  I was not looking forward to this.  I wasn't worried so much about the going up as the coming back down.  I am such a fraidy cat

Right off the bat the trail went steeply vertical.  That in itself wouldn't have been so bad but the trail was littered with sand and loose gravel which is always treacherous footing.  I was already slipping and sliding and we had just begun.  It was going to be a LONG .7 mile trek.  It didn't improve as we slowly made our way up higher.  I just had to take it one step at a time.  I tried not to think about what it would be like when we started coming down.  Finally we hit the halfway point and the trail leveled out somewhat.  We had completed the most difficult part.  We still had some scrambling to do but it was manageable.  Once we reached the top all I saw was flat prairie covered with grass.  I had climbed up that steep grade for this?  I turned 180 degrees and looked down into the valley.  That was more like it!  It was a stunning view into the Badlands.  There was a tall rock formation on the butte with us and directly in front that both Lee and Doug decided they had to climb.  Mabel and I stayed put.  Somebody had to stay there to take their picture.  Plus I didn't want to have to add any more "down" to what I was already having to do.  

When the guys made it back down to us, it was time to begin the arduous trek down the steep incline through sand and gravel laden gullies barely wide enough for your foot.  I started sliding and then thought, "The heck with this!"  I sat and slid down the chute.  Boy, that was so much easier and less stressful.  It was even fun, probably because I didn't hit anything pointy with my fanny :-). It was also much faster than me turtle-like picking my way down.  I would walk through the easier portions and then fanny-slide the harder parts.  People saw me and laughed but I didn't care.  I have no problem with looking foolish.  My method got me down safely and in one piece.  That was the important thing.  Of course my pants were now filthy and I was stuck in them for the rest of the day but it was well worth it.

Once we were all down (Mabel utilized my method as well but not as much as I did), we headed out of the park toward Wall.  Just outside of the Badlands we stopped at the Prairie Homestead Museum.  That was where I had seen the leucistic prairie dogs on my trip with Joyce.  Sure enough they were still there.  They seemed much tamer, however.  They all acted like they expected us to feed them.  Because of that it was a cinch to get good pictures of the cute critters.  One was quite a chunk.  He sat up and his belly pooched way out to the sides.  He was quite the character.

We opted not to do the museum so after we had our fill of prairie dogs, we headed down the road.  Our next stop was the National Minuteman Historic Site.  Now I know it's an important piece of our history and I'm glad we stopped, but I certainly wasn't as fascinated by it as Doug and Lee.  The historic site was actually spread out.  We first stopped at the Visitors' Center.  We watched the video which I struggled to stay awake through.  It wasn't boring, I was just really tired.  Plus it wasn't my favorite subject matter.  The displays were quite well done and extensive.  They had an old living room recreation with a TV playing the "Duck and Cover" turtle public service announcement.  There were photos of kids practicing that in school during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Both Doug and Lee remembered doing it.  Neither Mabel nor I ever did.

I learned that during the Cold War parts of South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado all held Minuteman sites.  I knew they were all throughout the Midwest but didn't know specific states.  And we actually still have operational sites with Minuteman III missiles for just in case.

I also learned an appreciation for the young men and women who served as missileers.  They had a tough job.  It was boring and yet stressful.  You couldn't do that job and lead any semblance of a normal life.  They were truly dedicated.  We saw the chair where they sat when working.  They were literally strapped into it.  I'm not sure why.  In the 1970s and 1980s the missile crews were either all women or all men.  In 1989 the first mixed crews at Ellsworth went on operational alert.

It wasn't easy to become a missileer.  You had to undergo psychological screening which makes sense.  Pushing the button to launch nuclear missile would be a stressful, life-altering thing.  Not everybody was fit for the job.  Active duty missileers were monitored by a protocol called the Personnel Reliability Program or PRP.  This put their entire life under the microscope.  Everything from their finances to medications they were prescribed to their personal lives were monitored.  I can understand why but I would personally hate people being all up in my business.

The missile sites were hidden in plain view on ranches and farms.  Frankly, I can't imagine having a launch site in my backyard but these hardy folks of South Dakota did.  Once the disarmament treaty was signed, the government went in and destroyed the sites. One little old lady was reported as saying, "You know you don't have to destroy my missile site. I won't tell anybody.  You may need it again someday."

One of the most interesting things I learned was about the near misses.  Who knew we had come so close several times to nuclear annihilation!  One Soviet soldier received a warning that we had fired missiles at them.  I believe he also got a warning that one of our nuclear subs had also fired its missiles.  He chose to ignore the alerts because he knew if he passed the word about the launches up the chain of command like he was suppose to do, there would be no going back and nuclear war would begin.  He knew in his heart that we wouldn't just start firing on them with no reason.  He felt like it was an error.  He was correct.  His lack of action cost him his military career but he saved the world.  

Another time we got warning of a Soviet launch.  Fortunately cool heads prevailed.  It turned out that some technician had loaded a training tape into the computer.  It was all fake.  Oy vey!  Fortunately these near misses were few and far between but they were scary even reading about them now.  One trigger happy person and we could have blown up the world.

From the VC we drove down the highway to the next stop which was at the Launch Control for Delta-01.  We couldn't actually go inside here because the tours were booked solid but we could look across at the outer building.   To be honest, it looked like a ranch house except it was enclosed by a serious fence.  The officers of the missile combat crew had 24 hour duty underground.  Eight personnel served three day duties in the topside buildings.  They supported the missile crew and maintained security. 

A bit further down the road was the Delta -01 Launch Site.  This particular launch site was an unmanned one.  If any alerts went off at this silo, Delta -01 Launch Control could have people there in 15 minutes.  People did come here to perform maintenance.  As the missile silo aged, maintenance became more frequent.  Security was always an issue.  It was a two step process to get into the silo.  First the security team had to punch in a code and take out a specific piece.  Doing this activated the hydraulics of the maintenance hatch.  The hydraulics was timed to raise the hatch in the same amount of time it would take to have security there from Launch Control.  Then the maintenance people had to punch in their code.  This process could take up to an hour.  Maintenance people were under armed guard the entire time they were working.  That would be stressful.

We could actually do a self-guided tour here.  You called up a phone number and it walked you through the site.  It was a different way to do it.  The most interesting part of this for me was to see the unarmed missile still in the silo.  They had removed the warhead and replaced the silo cover with clear plexiglass.  That served a double purpose.  Visitors could see inside to the missile and Russian spy satellites could see that the missile was decommissioned.

I was astonished to discover that we had had 1000 Minuteman missiles ready to strike back at the Soviet Union if they struck first.  Goodness knows how many the Soviets had as they had both stationary missiles and mobile missiles that they could move around as needed.  Crazy, crazy times.  Actually it was a MAD world as both the U.S. and the Soviets followed the MAD strategy.  MAD stands for Mutually Assured Destruction.  It was felt that if both sides knew that the other could annihilate them, nobody would push the button.  What an insane way to do things.  I mean I understand the concept and it does make sense of a sort but it was just insanity.

To be honest, although it was interesting but I was glad to live the Minuteman legacy behind.  I was ready for something cheerful like Wall.   Now Wall was a railroad town for the Chicago/Northwestern Railroad.  Since it was barely more than a pit stop, the town really didn't grow and prosper until a road was built into what became the Badlands National Park.  That road was key to the development of another key component of Wall which was Wall Drugstore.  Why should a drugstore be so important?  How did it save a town?  Well, your answers lie in the entrepreneurial spirit of two people.

Way back in 1931 Dorothy and Ted Hustead bought a drugstore in a small town called Wall.  They did so because 1) there was a drugstore for sale and Ted was a pharmacists and 2) Wall had a Catholic Church which was very important to them.  They wanted to be able to attend Mass every day.  So despite people telling them they were crazy, they bought the drugstore and moved to Wall.

However, business was not good.  They began to doubt the wisdom of what they had done.  Five years later, the business still hadn't grown.  Originally they had decided to give the store five years.  If they couldn't make a go of it, they would move.  Well, one hot day in July, inspiration came to Dorothy.  She was trying to put the baby down for a nap and take one herself, but it was too noisy with all of the jalopies driving down Route 16A.  That gave her an idea.  She knew that all of those drivers were hot and thirsty driving in the summer heat.  If they advertised free ice water, they could get people into the store.

So they made up a bunch of signs and put them up along the road.  The plan worked.  People stopped for the free ice water and ended up buying home-made ice cream and other items from the drugstore.  The rest is history.  All over the world you can find signs directing you to Wall, SD.  

The drugstore is no longer a tiny little place.  It is HUGE.  These days it includes a toy shop, bookstore, art gallery, historic photo gallery, play area, and a T-Rex who tries to eat you every twelve minutes.  You can also have your picture taken with a giant jackalope!  Outside in the backyard your can get a free cup of water out of the very well that Dorothy got water from for their customers.  The place is a total tourist trap but it's fun when you know the history.

I enjoyed the kitschy spirit of the place.  Joyce and I had had a great time here.  I think I was the only one who liked it today.  We made a fast walk though and that was it.  Outside we found the water and we all got our cup.  There were picnic tables so we had our lunch outside listening to T-Rex roar every quarter of an hour.  I would have enjoyed looking at the historic photos but nobody else seemed inclined to stay.  So as soon as we finished eating, we hit the road.

Our last stop of the day was the South Dakota Space and Air Museum just outside of Ellsworth Air Force Base.  It wasn't a huge museum but it was well done.  You got a slice of Dakota history here which was nice.  I learned that Don Smith from Belle , SD had been one of Doolittle's Raiders during WWII.  My favorite part of the museum though was the placard about Bismarck the dog.  He was quite the dog.  He showed up as a homeless puppy at the base in 1942 and they adopted him.  He was given free reign until his death in 1951.  It was said that this dog was a boozer (the local bar had a special bowl for him to drink beer out of) and a womanizer.  He knew when and where to catch the bus going to town and coming back to base.  He also knew where to exercise his talent for panhandling food or beer.  He could have been a begging burro!  Reportedly he had sad eyes and droopy ears.  The description sounded like he was a basset hound.  After looking at the pictures of him and seeing his huge paws, I KNEW he had basset blood in him somewhere :-). In 1951 he developed a severe infection that turned gangrenous and had to be put to sleep.  When the roads on base were renamed in the 1990s, it was decided to rename the Commercial Gate "Bismarck Gate."  I tell you, you find great dog stories all over the world.  Somebody should put them all together in a book.

Outside the museum we got to see a Minuteman missile as well as an Atlas rocket, fighters of all kinds, bombers.  They had a nice collection of retired planes that the guys had to check out.  I was done after a few planes.  It isn't my passion 🙂

From the museum it was just a short distance to our Hampton Inn in Rapid City where we were spending just one night.  We got checked in and situated and headed out for dinner.  We ended up eating at MacKenzie River Pizza, Grill, & Pub which was nearby.  We shared a hummus plate and then I had salad and Doug had a Reuben sandwich.  It wasn't fabulous but it was good.

Tomorrow we head north to North Dakota.  Neither Mabel or I have been there.  And none of us have been to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  It will be a fairly long drive but the scenery should be interesting.  Hopefully we'll see a plethora of animals on the way.