We started the day with a return to the Badlands and a very interesting geology walk with a park ranger. He answered the question that nagged us yesterday which was what made these formations in the middle of the prairie. Answer - a lot of years and a lot of geological events. Just an interesting aside, the ranger was a former science teacher in the Charlotte School system.
Next we went to the Minuteman Missile Historical site. Small groups of 6 are allowed to view the living space of the men who had their fingers on the nuclear missiles. Then we descended 35 feet down into the bomb proof launching station. At the end of the Cold War, about a thousand of these sites were abandoned and mostly destroyed but this was left exactly as it was at the disarmament. I found the technology in making the bomb proof shelter fascinating; but the thought of all the expense given to such a heinous endeavor depressing. And by the way, we still have over 450 of these sites operational. (and yes, using IBM 8 inch floppy disks).
And then we finally made it to the Black Hills where we will spend the next 3 days. We visited Mt Rushmore which is impressive to see. I thought there was room for one more face - maybe President Trump?
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