We had a full day of sightseeing today. We drove 30 miles in the famous Badlands, visited Wall Drugstore, and went to Mt. Rushmore to see 4th of July fireworks. The Badlands are full of towering spires, deep canyons, and gullies containing dry riverbeds. This landscape changes every year, because of constant erosion. The never-ending wind, the severe storms, and the soft rock contribute to the 1-inch-a-year erosion rate. This is incredibly fast, considering that Mount Rushmore’s granite erodes at 1/8 inch per 10,000 years. However, they are here for the time being, for everyone to see and enjoy. After seeing these magnificent rocks, we went to Wall Drug to walk around and taste the famous free “ice water.” With all of the signs and advertisements, you would think it’s something great. Turns out, it’s absolutely terrible! It smells and tastes like sulfur! Who wants to drink water that smells like rotten eggs? Well, at least we can say we tried it, but would never try it again. Finally, we came back to the motorhome, and ate supper while waiting for the bus to take us up to Mt. Rushmore. Guess what we saw on the way up? Mountain goats! We have never seen those, except in pictures. They are sort of clumsy looking, with their shaggy white hair and clumsy-looking legs, but they are really nimble on the rocks! That was neat to see. The fireworks were also great, and seeing them over a national monument made it all the more amazing.
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