BIG SKY

Greetings from Wall, SD.  For those of you who have never heard of the Wall Drug Store.  As you can see from the sign, it was established in 1931 by a Ted Hustead, a pharmacist and his family trying to start a business in a very small town.  After getting off to a very slow start and struggling for several years, Mrs. Hustead had the idea to put signs along the highway offering free ice water to the travelers heading west to see Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone.  The business grew and the rest is "history".  It is still a pharmacy as well as a big tourist trap, and is still run by the family.  

This was the first stop on our 39 day adventure through Big Sky and Rocky Mountain country.  We had several socials to meet our guests as they arrived in Wall before the first day and orientation on September 3rd.  While in Wall, we had several days to explore sites in the area like the Badlands National Park, the Minuteman Missile Historic site, an authentic Prairie homestead and the National Grasslands Visitors Center as well as Wall Drug.   

Just a few interesting points:  the Badlands got its name from the French trappers and Dakota Indians who said it was a bad land to travel through;  the prairie home was built in 1909 by a family given land through the U.S. Homestead Act; this decommissioned missile site was one of hundreds that were built along the Plains during the Cold War. 

SOME OF THE THINGS TO SEE AT WALL DRUG

JACKALOPE

DON'T CHEAT AT CARDS DOC HOLIDAY SAYS

HE IS ON I-90 

DOWNTOWN WALL SD

BIG SKY KICK OFF FIRST SOCIAL WITH EARLY ARRIVING GUESTS 

OK FOLKS  GET YOUR BEVERAGE FOR ORIENTATION

 ORIENTATION, ANY QUESTIONS? LETS TAKE A BREAK  

SOME "LIGHT" REFRESHMENTS

HEY! TIM, KATHY DON'T FORGET DESSERT

THE PRAIRE HOMESTEAD

JAN, AT THE PRAIRIE HOMESTEAD

NOTE THE SOD WALLS

THE BADLANDS

LONGHORN SHEEP

DECOMMISSIONED MINUTEMAN MISSILE SITE FROM THE COLD WAR ERA WITH RUSSIA 

FIRE CONTROL ROOM

MINUTEMAN SILO WITH DUMMY MISSILE

VISITOR CENTER FOR THE  NATIONAL GRASSLANDS IN WALL, SD

FIRST TRAVEL BRIEF, WE ARE ON THE ROAD THE NEXT MORNING