June 30, 2015 – Day 28
Rapid City, SD – Pierre, SD
202 miles/3 hours
The Club Suites Inn, Rms 217 & 219
Today was overcast and it was a total bummer. We visited the
Badlands and all I kept thinking was how much prettier it would've been
to see the park bathed in sunshine. It’s still beautiful, but part of the magic
of the Badlands, based on what I’ve read, is the glistening of the rock in
sunlight. The rocks have rings of color that produce some brilliant hues – but
not so much with the sun hiding behind the clouds. Looking on the bright
side, we were spared the notorious heat that the park experiences in the summer with
temperatures at full throttle.
The Badlands are cool – the canyons are somewhat similar to
most we’ve seen, except that they aren’t as deep, and many of the plateaus have
green grass. The largest valleys can easily be called prairies, because of the sheer
size of the area. I’m having trouble describing it, so I’m going to use Frank
Lloyd Wright’s words, which I lifted from the park brochure.
"I was totally unprepared for that revelation called the Dakota Bad Lands...What I saw gave me an indescribable sense of mysterious elsewhere-a distant architecture, ethereal....an endless supernatural world more spiritual than earth but created out of it."
After the park, we headed east to spend the night in Pierre
and check off another capital. Once you get past the Badlands, South Dakota
doesn’t have a whole hell of a lot going on. It’s stark and lonely. North
Dakota gave us a more visually appealing drive. South Dakota, not so much.
Pierre is a small city, although not the smallest capital city
we’ve visited. And I wouldn’t call it cute – or quaint. It’s different. The capitol
building is very pretty, though. Our hotel is nice, with a waterslide that’s
brand new! All’s good..
South Dakota State Capitol Building
