July 1 – 7, 2022
Somewhat reluctantly we left our new summer “home” in Traverse City on July 1 to continue our summer sojourn. Heading north, we crossed the Mighty Mac (Mackinaw Bridge) on a beautiful, calm day.
Our drive this day took us along the banks of Lake Michigan across the Upper Peninsula on routes 2 and 35. We stopped for the night in Menominee, Michigan just short of the Wisconsin border. Although a bit hard to find with several turns on relatively small streets and a shortcut through a defunct Kmart parking lot, River Park Campground turned out to be a small but delightful spot on the banks of the Menominee River. We were greeted by a gaggle of adult and juvenile geese as we settled into our nicely shaded site. (Watch where you walk!) We had a nice view of the river and the naval repair station on the other side.
The following morning we traversed Wisconsin and stopped for another overnight at Albert Lea/Austin KOA Holiday in Hayward, Minnesota.
We continued our cross-country sprint the next day with an overnight at Mitchell KOA Journey in Mitchell, SD. Along the way we passed Porter Sculpture Park containing more than 50 larger than life sculptures along I-90 near Montrose, SD. The sculptures are made from found metal by Wayne Porter who has a love of making and sharing his art with the world.
We were back on the road early the next day headed for the next stop (number 6) of the trip – Rapid City, SD. Just off I-90 near Chamberlain and prior to crossing the Missouri River, we caught a glimpse of the Dignity Statue sculpted by Dale Lamphere.
“Dignity represents the courage, perseverance and wisdom of the Lakota and Dakota culture in South Dakota,” Lamphere said. “My hope is that the sculpture might serve as a symbol of respect and promise for the future.”
Representing the rich Native American culture of South Dakota, the 50-foot Native American woman gracefully wears a dress patterned after a two-hide dress of the 1850s. She holds outstretched a quilt featuring 128 stainless steel blue diamond shapes designed to flutter in the wind. During the day, her star quilt – a representation of respect, honor and admiration in Native American culture – glitters in the sun with color-changing pieces that move with the wind. At night, LED lights cause the diamond shapes to glow in the night sky, casting a peaceful presence easily visible from the Interstate.
Travel South Dakota
Rapid City
Our home base while exploring the Rapid City area was the Rapid City/Black Hills KOA Holiday. The relatively spacious sites were gravel with grass living space. The campground sets on a hill overlooking the city.
Dakotah Steakhouse
After setting up camp and showering, we decided to have dinner at the nearby Dakotah Steakhouse.
“Dakotah,” a life-size metal buffalo sculpture stands guard outside the front door. Its massive figure cleverly hides nine other bronze castings including Mt. Rushmore, four buffalo, a pronghorn antelope, and a mountain lion. There is also a life-size bald eagle flying next to the buffalo’s shoulder. Crafted by local artist John Lopez, “Dakotah” symbolizes the true spirit of the West and is the ideal steward to welcome guests to Dakotah Steakhouse.
Dakotah Steakhouse
Although a nice restaurant with an impressive interior, we rated our meal as mediocre. My steak was good but Bill’s was just OK. The waiter basically ruined the evening for us. He insisted on putting an aerator on our wine bottle but after the first serving, he never refilled our glasses and the aerator splashed everywhere. Then he served our meal before we could finish our salad course. He never cleared any of the dishes and bothered us numerous times during our main course to see if we wanted to order dessert. We watched as other patrons received much better service. So much for a good steak dinner on July 4th – sigh.
Minuteman National Historic Site
After a day off to rest following several days on the road, we set off on July 6 to visit the Minuteman Nuclear Missile National Historic Site just off of I-90 near Wall, SD. Bill had made reservations for us to take a tour of the Launch Control Facility. We stopped first at the Visitor Center prior to meeting our guide outside of the LCF.
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site preserves two facilities that were once part of a Minuteman Missile field that covered the far western portion of South Dakota from 1963 through the early 1990’s. There were 15 Launch Control Facilities that commanded and controlled 150 Launch Facilities (Missile Silos) holding Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Two of these facilities survive in their historic state, Launch Control Facility Delta-01 with its corresponding underground Launch Control Center and Launch Facility (Missile Silo) Delta-09. These two sites, along with a Visitor Center, comprise Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.
For every 10 Minuteman nuclear missiles (known as a Flight) there was an underground Launch Control Center (LCC) that remotely commanded and controlled the missiles. The LCC at Delta-01 was 31 feet beneath the ground of the Launch Control Facility. Two missileers worked and lived on 24 hour alert duty shifts within the LCC. There was an eight ton blast door that had to be opened from within before an oncoming Missile Combat Crew could enter the LCC. The two person crew would spend most of their time monitoring the status of their 10 missiles. Among their other work duties was authenticating message traffic, remotely monitoring maintenance at the silos and assisting with the dispatch of security police if any motion sensing alarms were tripped at the silos. When the missileers were not performing work duties they would pass time by reading, watching television or studying for master’s degrees through a special Air Force educational program. There was also a bunk provided for one missileer to sleep while the other crewmember kept an eye on the weapons system. Former missileer, David Blackhurst remembered that missile duty was “hours and hours of sheer boredom, punctuated by seconds of panic.”
Missileers waited and waited over several decades for a launch command they hoped would never arrive. If the command to launch was given, it would have come in the form of an Emergency War Order (EWO).
nps.gov
Our guide (a former missileer at the site) escorted our 6 person group into the topside Launch Control Facility where he explained the facilities and methods of communication. He then had us enter the elevator to the underground portion of the facility. We descended 31 feet, walked around the blast door and entered the cramped Underground Control Center. As you can imagine, having lived and worked in this very facility, the guide provided lots of insights and stories about the life of a missileer.
Badlands National Park
Following our visit to the Minuteman National Historic Site, we entered the Badlands National Park. We had intended to visit this park on our 2021 summer trip but with so many other sites to see (Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, Devil’s Tower, Custer State Park, and Crazy Horse) we just couldn’t manage to fit it all in. This time we were determined to include it.
The Lakota gave this land its name, “Mako Sica,” meaning “land bad.” Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. It is desolation at its truest, where you can look for miles and see no sign of civilization.
This land has been so ruthlessly ravaged by wind and water that it has become picturesque. The Badlands are a wonderland of bizarre, colorful spires and pinnacles, massive buttes and deep gorges. Erosion of the Badlands reveals sedimentary layers of different colors: purple and yellow (shale), tan and gray (sand and gravel), red and orange (iron oxides) and white (volcanic ash).
Badlands National Park also preserves the world’s greatest fossil beds of animals from the Oligocene Epoch of the Age of Mammals. The skeletons of ancient camels, three-toed horses, saber-toothed cats and giant rhinoceros-like creatures are among the many fossilized species found here. All fossils, rocks, plants and animals are protected and must remain where you find them. Prehistoric bones are still being uncovered today by park officials.
Black Hills Badlands
We stopped first at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center and then set out on the Badlands Loop Road where we stopped at several overlooks.
We concluded our scenic drive by heading north on SD-240 into Wall and then headed back to Rapid City. (No, we didn’t stop at Wall Drug).
Next up – Colorado
The following morning we packed up and hit the road headed for stop 7 of the trip.
