Pierre, Wall, and Philip, SD: August 2-3, 2021 - The Badlands

I got lost in the Badlands when I was 16.  It was me and that same church youth group I mentioned in the last post.  I only have vague memories of it, but we took a trail up into the mountainous landforms that make up that park and must have gotten off the trail or something, because before we knew it, we were wandering around trying to find a safe passage down, backtracking at points, and navigating hazards to get to safety.

Fifteen years later, I returned, but not until we'd visited the great tourist draw of the area, Wall Drug, which I also saw with that youth group all that time ago.  I only kind of remember the dinosaur, though:

And didn't remember at all the interior of Wall Drug:

Except for one place, which I only remember because of a photo:

I'm pretty sure that's the same Jackalope.

With Wall Drug done, we made our way to the final National Park on this Dakotas trip, the titular Badlands.  We did the scenic loop, much like Teddy Roosevelt.  Actually, there was a lot about this that felt similar to T.R.  It's not exactly the same; you can easily tell it's a different area, but there are clear similarities.  If Teddy Roosevelt is Mario, Badlands is Luigi.

Anyway, here's what it looked like:

A little later, we came upon the yellow mounds:

And a shot of, again, how vast this landscape is:

It just stretches into forever.

Another overlook, the Homestead Overlook, showed the edge of the Badlands, and really emphasizes the infinite nature of this park's views:

Much like Teddy Roosevelt, pictures don't quite do it justice.  It's a place you have to actually be to fully experience.  Which in a way, I'm grateful for.  In a time where one can pull up photos or Google street views of just about anywhere on Earth, it might occur to you to ask, "what's the point of travel?  Why take all that time and money to actually go somewhere if I can see it from the comfort of my computer screen or phone?"  And places like this, if nowhere else, are the answer to that question.

We continued through the Badlands, stopping at the visitor center and doing a couple short hikes, but the temperature got up to 95 degrees, and given the landscape, it felt a bit like the Sahara, so we didn't explore it too extensively.  

Instead, we decided it was getting to be time for lunch, and the nearest town with any food to speak of was a place called Philip.  Philip was up a small highway, away from the interstate, and looked exactly like you might expect a tiny middle-of-nowhere South Dakota town to look:

We continued to go away from I-90, the only Interstate in South Dakota, which bisects the state east-to-west, so that we could see the sunflower fields along highway 34:

That was well worth it.  Those things, again, were endless.

We arrived in Pierre around dinner time, and too late to do any of the sightseeing that was on our docket, so we had dinner and turned in.  The plan for next morning was really just one major destination: the Capitol building.

This one is a much more traditional building, with an architectural style more in line with most other state Capitols.  I like the color scheme, too.  Inside is what you might expect:

But the dome/rotunda area I found particularly impressive:

And then the Senate and House chambers:

Which were very hot, as forewarned by the guards at the door.  On the 4th floor, the heat can get pretty stuffy.  That's why, they say, they are only in session in the winter.

That's the thing about both of these states.  Oppressively hot right now, but in the winter, you get temperatures way into the negatives and snow that shuts down interstates.  With no body of water to regulate its weather, the Dakotas are a land of extremes.

With the Capitol done, we packed up and headed east from Pierre, toward our final destination.