Day 14, Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - 313 miles
This was a good day! Mike, Connie and Harley got up to see
us off at 7:00 AM. We gassed up and then took 16 to Truck 16 so
we could bypass Rapid City. We then shot down to Exit 127 and turned north. We
got to our destination at 8:50 just in time to
secure a sport near the front of the line. It was open house day at the
Delta-01 Missile Command Center!
This is one of the decommissioned units that has been turned
into a National Park System holding and is now open to the
public. Normally, they give a morning and an afternoon tour limited to 6
people, however on Tuesdays, they give tours from
9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon on a first come first serve basis. You still go in groups
of six which is mandated by the size of the
elevator that takes you down to the control center. Notice the pizza ad. It is
on the 8 ton blast door.
Sorry I blurred this one, it is your Cathy picture for today
as she enters the underground control center. Watch your head! The
walls in the control center are four feet thick and have very large rebar in
them. The commander’s station is shown at the end.
You do NOT want to turn that key! If you do, it will shoot
off this very large firecracker as shown in tube D-09 from a
separate missile site. Actually it took simultaneous operation of two separate
keys located 12’ apart. That is why is was
always manned by two people. There are three sites to see: Launch control
(D-01), the visitor center at the East end of the
Badlands Loop (Hwy 244) and the actual missile silo at Exit 116 (D-09) as shown
above. After D-01 we went to the visitor
center which is I-90 Exit 131. While there we bought gas. We then zipped up to
Exit 116 since the ranger was only going to be
there until noon. We then went to the biggest tourist draw in this part of the
country. You used to see all the bumper stickers
saying, “Where the heck is Wall Drug?”; well, it’s at Exit 110 in Wall.
They have quite a collection of stuff in there to buy. It is
also famous for it’s Jackalope sales. I tried to get Cathy to let me take
her picture on the world’s largest jackalope but you can see how well that
worked out for me. Anyhow, my brother Duane and
I decided that when in Wall, you MUST have a buffalo burger so Cathy and I
dined. With a little arm twisting, she gave in and
tried one. She is now a convert! I tried to tell her…
After lunch, it was the approximately 47 mile Badlands Loop
on Hwy 244. Quite beautiful in a bad way… OK, desolate. I keep
thinking about the old Western folks and Indians having to go through there.
That would have been tough. Remember I
bought gas a few paragraphs back? Well, we had used enough in our 71 miles
since the last fill that I stopped at the same
station and filled up again! (Today was VERY windy and we were on a 75 mph
highway.) We shot down I-90 to Murdo.
This is the car they put on the billboards along the
highway. The next car has 4183 pieces of mahogany and is powered by two
500 ci Cadillac engines that each produce 400 hp. I’m kind of at a loss for
comments here which is unusual for me…
OK, I’ll admit I have a soft spot for Massey-Harris 44s… I’ll
even admit to wanting one. They make great birthday gifts!
Anyhow, that place has 38 – 44 buildings depending on which advertisement or
billboard you look at. Lots and lots of stuff!
Now I suppose you’re thinking that this was you nighttime shot? Well, you would
be wrong. NOBODY is renting cabins for $1
a night anymore. We had to spend a little more than that, however, we have a
great view:
We are in Chamberlain, SD at the Super 8 with this view of
Lake Francis Case / Missouri River (The lake is formed by a flood
control dam on the river). Pretty nice area I’m thinking. Anyhow, tomorrow is a
BIG day. I want to see the Pipestone Monument
near Pipestone, MN (imagine that) and then we contacted my brother Duane and
are meeting them in Galena, IL. There is a
two for one special at the resort (it’s off season) so we thought that would be
fun! Unfortunately, it is 600 miles or so from here
if we do the monument. Since it’s almost midnight, I’d better upload and get
some sleep. See you in the mornig!