Alaskan Adventure: Day 12. We traveled from Custer KOA to Devil’s Tower KOA today which was a beautiful 3 hour drive through Wyoming. We visited Devil’s Tower first because it was too early to check-in at the campground. The campground is right at the National Monument front entry gates. Another beautiful day of blue skies, cool breeze, and puffy white clouds.

Distant view of Devils Tower and the nearby Missouri Buttes (those bumps on the left) from a pulloff called Salt Creek Overlook.

Dashcam view getting much closer but looks far away because of the wide angle dashcam.

We had to drop the RV and take just the tow car up to the visitors center. The photo above and the two below are from the parking lot where we disconnected. After visiting Devils Tower we reconnected, had lunch, and went back down to the campground.

Explanation of the nearby Missouri Buttes.

Becky says I need more people pictures so here we are, proof we made it back to Devils Tower 33 years after visiting with the kids in 1993.

We hiked up past the trees to the base of the boulder field.

On the way up to the boulder field there was an area of trees covered in strips of cloth, bracelets, and various other trinkets.

More info that you may not care about but I like it.

Leaving the National Monument, we checked into the KOA campground. This dashcam shot of Becky walking over to check-in shows how close to Devils Tower and the park entry the campground is.

The usual gift shop stuff was for sale but they also had a section of ‘historical artifacts’ from the Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie days. This pinball machine brought back memories. Speaking of memories… random Gee Whiz trivia. I was in Paris, France 48 years ago in 1978 on a Ball State Architecture trip called PolyArk when that movie came out. The campground shows the Close Encounters each evening when the sun goes down.

Our campsite view. The last 3 photos below are shots from in front of the RV as we watched from late afternoon to evening sunset.

Alaskan Adventure: Days 1 thru 4. The first four days and three nights of travel got us to Wall, South Dakota and covered a bit over 1,000 miles of the Great Plains. We are now two time zones away from Indy, on Mountain Time. The green cornfields of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa, changed gradually to the rolling pasturelands of South Dakota. Then suddenly, there is a “wall” of crazy eroded ridges and spires marking The Badlands National Park. The next post will be about the Badlands but that is where Wall, SD got it’s name.

Nathan took this pic of us all hooked up and ready to drive off. We are so thankful he is willing to keep the lawn mowed and watch over the house as we travel.

A dashcam is new for this trip. Here’s the first few seconds of the trip leaving our street.

People have asked: “Why do you want to go to Alaska?” I’m hoping we have a good answer by the time we finish but here is a start. I saw this photo on some Facebook or Instagram page taken along the Alaskan Highway and thought that would be worth some effort to see. Running through my head is Louis Armstrong singing in his deep, melodious voice; “and I think to myself, what a wonderful world”

First stop for National Parks Stamp was in the little town of West Branch, Iowa at the birthplace of President Herbert Hoover.

The very small two room birthplace (and childhood until age 11) home of Herbert (Bert) Hoover. Mom, Dad, and 3 kids lived in a space about the size of our RV. His parents (and most of the community) were Quakers. The 3 children were split up and sent to different relatives when both parents died.

We didn’t know much about Herbert Hoover, which is a good reason to stop and learn something. I was struck by his humility.

This sampler quilt was on display at the Visitors Center. It is called the “Birthplace Centennial Quilt”. Each square was created by women in the West Branch, IA area and combined at a local quilt shop. The blocks represent National Park Units in all 50 States.

Another stamp for the National Parks Passport book.

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. This was surprisingly fascinating…

That’s right, it’s all CORN.

I have photographed a lot of gymnasiums – this one is crazy. The walls are covered in murals of CORN. When it is not being used for basketball, it is a giant gift shop of all things CORN.

The entrance lobby has columns with tiles emulating CORN.

Interesting Corn Palace history.

Continuing West on I-90 we arrived at the Chamberlin Exit; an interesting welcome-center/rest-stop on a tall bluff overlooking the Missouri River. A 50 foot tall statue called “Dignity of Earth and Sky” is the main attraction but there is also a nice visitors center and small museum about the Lewis & Clark Expedition that camped near this location on the river. The quilt “blanket” pattern is called “Lone Star”.

We thought it was a lake but it’s just the really wide Missouri River.

Next stop was the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. A sobering visit to consider all things related to the Cold War period, Cuban Missile Crisis, etc. The Minuteman Missile had a solid rocket propellant that could be launched immediately from underground silos. The previous missiles (Atlas and Titan) had liquid propellants and needed preparation time to launch. This was interesting to me because my dad helped design the Atlas guidance system back in the 60’s when he worked for Bendix. He would sometimes be gone on trips to White Sands, NM to testing.

Dashcam shot of our first glimpse of the Badlands “Wall” as we were arriving at the Town of Wall.

Finally arriving in Wall, SD we passed this enormous Jackalope.

There are thousands of billboards advertising Wall Drug Store. We knew it would be ‘touristy’ but after a few minutes inside this giant warehouse of gift shop junk we were done. Not even a 5 cent coffee will entice us to come back.

Stormy but colorful sunset from our campsite in Wall, SD. Tomorrow we will explore The Badlands.