August 6, 2010

August 6, 2010

We chose to pass on a Niobrara River float trip this morning. Instead we leave town heading north crossing back into South Dakota. We make a brief stop at Badlands National Park to admire the scenery before heading to Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. This park site is a preservation of a Cold War nuclear missile silo and control center. It was a major disappointment. Despite being in existence for eleven years virtually nothing has been setup. The park still operates out of a couple small trailers. On most days they only offer two tours of eighteen people each and these are always sold out. When I inquired why so few tours, a ranger complains of understaffing. As he says this I see at least six rangers coming in and out of offices. They don’t have a staffing problem. They just aren’t utilizing what they have effectively. I don’t know why I am always surprised when I see this level of ineptness at the parks. It is the government after all. We hung around the tiny “Visitor Center” an hour hoping to get a cancellation. We didn’t. The only saving grace for our time was a long discussion with an Aussie couple also waiting. They claimed their government was just as incompetent. I bet they are wrong, ours has so much more experience.

From Minuteman we drove into the Black Hills looking for a campsite for the night. It was hard. The annual motorcycle rally in nearby Sturgis is next week and most campgrounds are full. The rally draws almost 500,000 bikers and they dominate the whole Black Hills region. We eventually find a campground with a spot for us. Whew!