Today we started out our journey along I-90 at 6:30 am Central time. We wanted to get a jump on the heat and the more the day went on, the more HAPPY we were that we left almost at the crack of dawn! It was 67* when we left out of the campground.

I was finally able to get my photo of the field full of the bales of hay or some sort of grain. They were all over here. This area between Mitchell and Black Hawk of SD is partly National Grasslands. Few fields of corn. Enormous ranches of amber waves of grain as far as the eye could see with cattle grazing the land. Very few trees. Too dry for them to survive. Mostly only saw trees around the ranch homesteads. The ranches were miles and miles apart from one another. Very few electric poles. You'd see cattle out in the fields and know that they have wandered a very long ways as you could not even see the farm house or barn in sight. Saw a few horses here and there, but not really very many at all.

Along the way we saw a lot of honey bee hives grouped together. You couldn't really see them very well in the photos that I took, so didn't post any here. We did notice that there was hardly any litter along the roadways, but also not many fast food places either. It was sure so nice to see it so clean along the sides of the road. Saw PLENTY of bill boards though. Never got bored with the views and if ever the view wasn't the best, we could read the bill boards. Must have been a Wall Drug bill board at least every 10 miles or so if not more.

The photo below was taken in the Missouri River area of I-90 about mm 261. Absolutely beautiful area here. The photos just cannot cature the sights we enjoyed.

We filled up our diesel tanks at a Sinclair station for $2.91 cash. Got a 6 cent discount for cash and a free cup of coffee to boot!

At 9:15 am Central time we passed into the Mountain Time Zone. So now we were at 8:15 am! The skys were clear and it was up to 85*

The photo below is part of the Badlands of SD. The Badlands are very near to the town of Wall. Very pretty views in this area even along the expressway. We'd previously taken the tour of that area, so we kept on track to Wall, SD.

This below is part of the wall of rock that the city of Wall and the store of Wall Drugs is named after.

We had planned to stop in to see Wall Drug on our way to the next campground. When we pulled off of the expressway and into the town, it sure looked like something was going on. We managed to manuver our big rig through the streets even though some were barricaded off for what appeared to be the formation of a parade. Found our way back to a huge parking area and slid in along the edge of the back of the lot. We put Barney and Betty into the trailer and turned on the fans. We then headed into the town of Wall, where to our amazement, they were celebrating their town centenial. The streets were crowded with people and you could hardly walk down the boardwalk in front of the stores. We didn't really watch too much of the parade. We knew that Barney and Betty were in the Creek and didn't want them to get too hot. We peeked into some of the stores and headed back to the trailer. Here's a photo below of the inside of the World Famous Wall Drugs of South Dakota. Enjoyed looking around the stores here. I bought a cow boy hat and Mark got a Mt. Rushmore t-shirt. Found out one thing.....make sure to check around for the cheapest price. The same shirt and hat in the store next to Wall Drugs was half the cost that the very same exact ones were in Wall Drug! Thankfully we paid the lower prices. On the way back to the trailer, I managed to grab a few of the candies that had been tossed out from the parade floats. The taffy was wonderful!

Here we are at Wall Drug in the Backyard area. A fellow offered to take our photo for us. He did miss the old stage coach and teepee that we were standing by, but we were not going to complain! What do you think of my hat?!?! At least it keeps my head cool.

Here's a shot of us near to Rapid City, SD.

This little campground in Black Hawk, SD named Three Flags RV Park that is just outside of Rapid City is sure nothing to brag about and not even worth a photo really. No trees, dead grass, no pool, etc. We sure cannot complain about the Passport America price of $10! ....But the do have WiFi!!!! It was near to 90* when we arrived with a beautiful sky and scattered fluffy clouds. So I've been sitting here in the air conditioning updating my blog so that I can keep our friends and family updated with our travels. Hope you enjoyed our day as much as we did.

Happy Trails!

Sandy & Mark