Good MorningJeremy and I woke up at 6:30am, quickly dressed, and packed up our things. We 10/10 don't recommend staying at America's Best Value Inn in Wall, South Dakota. We never took our socks off because the carpet was so stained. To be honest, we 10/10 don't recommend staying in Wall, period. Badlands National Park - Part 1We drove into Badlands National Park. There was no ranger to give us a map, or to take our money, so we drove right through. We entered from the North end and turned right, eager to see the sun rise. We stopped at the first overlook and I took a few photographs. On our way to the second overlook, we saw a pronghorn. We watched the sun rise from the second overlook, and saw a lone bison across the canyon also enjoying the break of day. We then drove to Prairie Dog Town, but none of the prairie dogs were out and about. Maybe they aren't "early risers". Back to WallWe left the park and went back to Wall for breakfast. Our motel didn't have breakfast on site, but had provided a voucher for Badlands Bar and Grille. Jeremy had biscuits and gravy with bacon and hash-browns. I had French toast with bacon and hash-browns. We left the restaurant and stopped to get coffee at a small drive-thru called Stomping Grounds Coffee, which was arguably the best thing about the entire town of Wall. Badlands National Park - Part 2Back to Badlands we went, and this time there was a ranger at the gate. We purchased an America the Beautiful Pass and got our park map. There were prairie dogs next to the gate, stretching in the morning light, so we did get to see them after missing them at Prairie Dog Town. This time we went left after entering the park. The views were all spectacular. We saw more canyons among rigid rocks. We saw the dome-like rock formations with yellows and reds. We saw White River cutting through the landscape. We saw a small herd of big-horned sheep, some of which had impressive racks! We also saw a lot of prairie dogs throughout the park. We were also blessed with a visit from a chipmunk and a bunny, and the bunny stuck around long enough to get a nice portrait of. We made our way through the rest of the park, stopping many times on the way to admire the changing rock formations. We stopped at the visitor's center before exiting the park and bought a few items in the gift shop. Rapid CityWe exited the park at the Northeast gate, hopped on I-90 West, and went to Rapid City. The first thing we did in Rapid City was find a place to have lunch. We went to Colonial House, where we had cheese curds, and we both got walleye. We checked into our hotel, The Rushmore Hotel, unpacked the car, and then went shopping. The first store we went to was an antique store called Younique Finds. We then went downtown and went to Heroes and Villains, Celtic Connection of the Black Hills, Starbucks, Who's Toy House, and Mitzi's Books. We then went over to the mall and shopped there for a bit. The mall was very nice, and unsurprisingly named Rushmore Mall. Next, and finally, we went to a place called BAM.
We went and had dinner at Millstone, and sat in the parking lot for a bit finishing our coffee from the coffee shop inside BAM called Joe Muggs Coffee. We went inside where Jeremy had a Monte Cristo, and I had a chicken melt. It was time to call it a night, so we went back to our hotel and went to bed.
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Author: RebeccaPhotographer, visual artist, wife, mother to five fur-babies, and travel enthusiast. Categories
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