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Heading Home | |
Since I was coming back this way anyhow, I had to take one last look at The Badlands, to last me until my next visit. | |
This is the original vista, still breathtaking, thirty years after my first view of the place. | |
Another look over the former sea bed, which has become one of the richest sources of fossils in the world. | |
See you in a year or so. | |
I had been here over a year ago, to see the missile site. It is well worth the visit, of you are going out here. On this trip, I had no time, and at any rate reservations must be made far in advance to have any hope of going down into the underground launch center. | |
The gas station, rest stop, and general store, a few miles down the road from The Badlands. The area is experiencing a rare episode of fog and light rain. | |
Though I can not get out on one of the tours, without a reservation, there are a few things to look at, in the Minuteman site headquarters. This case displays some patches and uniforms. | |
A look around headquarters. This area is not so much a museum, as it is a waiting room for tour groups. Only 6-8 people are taken down at a time, and generally there are only two such groups a day. | |
A display case, adjacent to the front desk. | |
During the day, a video is show, among relics of decommissioned silos. The chair is taken from a launch control center, and was originally designed as a bomber seat. | |
Left: The entrance to Minuteman Missile NHS. Below: Al's Oasis, at the edge of the Missouri, welcomes me back into the relatively benign environs of the nominal Midwest. |
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Back in Minnesota, I will be in Wisconsin in a few hours. Though I love the West, this always feels like home to me. | |
A look back, towards South Dakota. There is always next year. |
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