Toni's Tribute to All Countries, But Mostly America

Has been a fabulous day from three very different perspectives, hence… Three amazing things: #1- Wasn’t sure what to expect from The Minuteman Missile Nat’l Historic Site, a relic from the Cold War era in the middle of western South Dakota farmland, and my expectations were quite low. But it was 10 minutes from The Badlands, so we decided to pop in.  Man, was I ever delighted! We lived through “duck and roll” training in grade school and well remember Fallout Shelters, so this was a walk down 1960’s memory lane. The museum and film were quite brilliant (a pleasant surprise as most of the parks visitors centers are dated, dreary, and partly shut down or otherwise inoperable), the silos absolutely fascinating. As the US and Russia raced to amass the most nuclear warheads, US officials hid thousands of nuclear armed Minutemen Missiles all over the plains states in underground missile silos. The vast majority have since been destroyed after the end of the Cold War, but the Delta-09 sil...

Three amazing things in The Badlands of South Dakota: #1- The night sky here is just plain phenomenal. We’ve visited some dark sky areas before, the best being on a crisp autumn night in Colorado’s Black Canyon of the Gunnison. But tonight’s dark skies rivaled the best, especially since it was a new moon night. No towns for miles in any direction combined with a lack of air pollution added to a moonless night set the stage for viewing satellites, shooting stars, and a white streak of The Milky Way amidst a billion stars. Simply enchanting, especially at 0300. Made frequent nighttime potty breaks less an annoyance, more a gift. #2- The Badlands are aptly named. Fur trappers in the 1780’s were frustrated as they tried to pass through this inhospitable environment. Early 1930’s homesteaders, too, struggled against the arid rugged landscape and most did not survive the dust bowl phenomenon. We hiked over 6 miles through various parts of the park including 5 miles along The Wall, that great...