We’re up at the crack of dawn and head back east toward the Badlands, stop to have breakfast at Wall Drug. I order their biscuits and gravy which are really good, so I chat up the cook to find out how she makes them. I’ll be doing some experimenting when we’re settled back in Costa Mesa.
We spend a few hours exploring Badlands National Park and have a beautiful sunshiny day to enjoy the park’s spectacular rock formations. They’re reminiscent of what we’ve seen in Death Valley and elsewhere, but nevertheless unique.
The Badlands
When we stopped for lunch I was struck by the view out the restaurant’s picture windows, they looked like posters that had been hung on the walls.
Nice picture windows
One of the attractions in the park is a prairie dog city in an area which also hosts a herd of bison. When we spot a bison I naturally get out of the car and start walking towards him to get some closer shots. Jan, back in the car, becomes a bit concerned when the bison sits up and starts staring at me. Although I’ve been carefully calibrating my relative distance to the animal and to the car, I settle for the photos I’ve taken and beat a retreat.
You lookin' at me??....................................................................................no, but I am.
Another part of the park has an area representing the tiny fraction of remaining prairie which used to cover a large part of the American Midwest – Jan seems to find the great expanse relaxing and inspiring.
Some remaining prairie.
We return to Rapid City on a county road and pass many ranches and farms, including some huge sunflower fields. An odd thing about these sunflowers is that they’re all pointing directly away from the sun..
Sunflowers pointing away from the sun...???
We noticed this in other fields in the past couple of days, the flowers seem to all be pointing to the east, regardless of the time of day. Aren’t sunflowers supposed to follow the sun?
The sink in our hotel room had gotten clogged this morning, we told Michelle at the desk and she promised she would have someone come look at it. But when we get back this evening the sink is still filled with water and there hasn’t been any housekeeping done at all. This is the last straw, we tell her we’re leaving, pack our bags and load up the car. But where to go?
The Alex Johnson's roof sign...
We’d taken a walk in town yesterday evening and Jan had spotted a lovely old brick building housing the Alex Johnson Hotel. Turns out it was built in 1928 by Mr. Johnson, a railroad magnate, and it’s hosted a regular Who’s Who of the rich and famous over the years, movies stars, politicians, industrial magnates. It was also featured in Hitchcock’s 1959 movie “North by Northwest”, a large part of which is set in the nearby Mt. Rushmore monument, and this seals the deal for us movie buffs. We call them and end up getting a room for not much more than the fleabag had been charging us.
...and its elegant lobby (that's Jan on the balcony).
It’s a beautiful and elegant old place with its fascinating history documented in many photos hanging everywhere. We spot Dinosaur Hill from the hotel’s rooftop bar and enjoy our Manhattans. We also admire the neon sign on top of the South Dakota Stock Growers’ Association building just down the street.
Hi, ho Silver, Away!
The horse’s forelegs need some maintenance, but this is a perfect setting for our last night in Rapid City.