Badlands, you gotta live it every day!

CONTENTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

A lot of the time, there isn't much to see along I-90 in South Dakota.

The maze and the minotaur.

A project of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

We would start to see signs for Wall Drug and Reptile Gardens as soon as we entered South Dakota. "Come see Maniac, the Crocodile," urged the signs. See him we would.

A carved out wooden eagle in a facsimile old west town.

This old codger gave me a real hard time about paying to get in. Needless to say, he didn't get a penny from me.

*****

Like the Boss man says, you gotta live it every day.

The entrance to Badlands National Park in South Dakota. I didn't even realize we'd be coming near Badlands till we got there. Somehow my stellar planning missed a major stopping point.

As I was driving, I was desperately trying to find the Bruce Springsteen CD with "Badlands" on it. I went through at least half a dozen CDs, forgetting that the only version of the song I had was a medley with "Summertime Blues" and did not get to hear the song until much later.

The lands is constantly being reshaped by wind and water erosion.

The earthen material is very brittle, crunching easily underfoot; ethereal: disappearing almost as if it doesn't really exist in the fantastic shapes we see.

A deer at nature's beck and call.

*****

Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota

The "showgirl" I got at Wall Drug, in the town of Wall, South Dakota. She was a real hardbody. For hundreds of miles, Tyrel and I saw signs for this place called Wall Drug. Many of the signs were really clever and got my interest piqued early on so that I had to go and see what it was about.

She was really stiff at first, but after a few drinks she...loosened up.

A real T-Rex fossil skull. - ty·ran·no·saur (t-rn-sôr, t-) Pronunciation Key Audio pronunciation of "Tyrannosaurus" [P] also ty·ran·no·saur·us (t-rn-sôrs, t-) n. A very large carnivorous dinosaur of the Upper Cretaceous Period of North America, characterized by small forelimbs and a large head. [New Latin Tyrannosaurus, genus name : Greek turannos, tyrant + Greek sauros, lizard.] (Dictionary.com)

No one can harm Pope Bearly Withit IV in his bulletproof bearmobile.

Yeeehaw! Giant jackalope!