NOTE: IN ORDER TO BETTER SEE PHOTOS IN THEIR FULL 1600 PX. RESOLUTION, VIEW THEM IN THE ALBUM FORMAT BY CLICKING ON THE LEAD PHOTO OR ANY PHOTO IN THE POST. This is especially true for landscape shots. Thanks to Mark for the idea of adding this alert so the photos can be seen at their best!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Blast Off to the Badlands, 2011

As I've mentioned in a few posts recently we took a trip to South Dakota with my mom and dad back in June of 2011.  Our first stop was the Badlands and we stayed at Sleepy Hollow RV Park.  Having stayed at the other park in town on our previous visit, we can say with confidence that Sleepy Hollow is definitely the better choice.  The owners were very friendly, laundry was reasonably priced, and the campground was clean and well kept.  The same could not be said of the other joint when we visited. 

Side by side Laredos for us!

We didn't stay long, but took a swing through the Badlands National Park and through the shops in Wall.  I'm not much of a shopper, but my mother picked up a bunch of Harley Davidson shirts for her brother.

No one takes a shot like my tripod!
Flower identification appreciated

Like the good folks at Good Luck Duck, we sprung for a missile tour, but ours was at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in South Dakota instead of Arizona. The NPS website has this great link to a collection of oral histories from former missile field personnel and local citizens who were part of the Minuteman's history for over three decades.  We took the tour  31 feet underground and got to check out the launch center. I was particularly fond of the artwork.


Being a bit younger than some of my fellow RV bloggers, this piece of our history was just a little bit before my time. The cold war was winding down a bit in my day, so a lot of the information we learned was pretty new to us.  During the height of the Cold War, 1,000 Minuteman missiles were operational in six missile wings across North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Nebraska, and Missouri.  Interestingly, the launch control facilities and missile silos of the Cold War, and even those that exist today, were never a secret. Many community members even participated in the construction. The locations of these sites were never kept secret from the Soviet Union, either.  If you want to know more, visit a site on your travels!
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5 comments:

  1. Box Canyon Blog.comDecember 8, 2012 at 6:28 PM

    RE: the flower... an Evening Primrose. It closes up during the middle of the day and is open mornings and evenings.
    Box Canyon Mark

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    Replies
    1. Pam December 8, 2012 at 7:17 PM

      Thanks, Mark! It was just after sunrise and I was lying in the wet muckiness to get the shot, of course.

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  2. Linda W.December 8, 2012 at 9:59 PM

    Yep, growing up in South Dakota, next to an Air Force base, we knew all about the missile silos. It's funny to think they've been decommissioned now. I didn't know you could tour one of them! I'll have to check it out next time I go and visit my folks.

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  3. The Good Luck DuckDecember 8, 2012 at 10:59 PM

    Cool! I didn't know you could visit Minuteman sites.

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  4. ErinDecember 11, 2012 at 1:53 PM

    These Minuteman sites are interesting and give one pause when you learn more about them and come face to face with one. (We did the one in Pima.)

    ReplyDelete

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