south dakota: badlands national park, kadoka, minuteman missiles, and mitchell

After my days in the Custer state park area, I started a new day with another carb loaded breakfast (I love sugar, but three days in a row of sugar sugar sugar for breakfast was a bit ridiculous) then packed up.
I drove east on I-90, with a speed limit of 80mph, for a couple hours.
There are two major entrances to badlands national park, on either end of the one big road that goes through the park. It must be really easy to count the number of park visitors, unlike in other national parks that have many entrances. I paid my fee (good for a week, you're supposed to leave the ticket on the dashboard of your car) and continued driving.
My original idea was to drive through the park, stop off to take a few photos, then find a hiking trail. It didn't work out that way. There were so many stunning views that I found myself pulling over quite regularly to take photos and enjoy the scenery. 

Some of my stops had other visitors, some did not. I ended up taking a good 3-4 hours to drive the entire road. SO MANY STUNNING VIEWS.
I'm not really into geology, but I still loved being able to see layers of history, to see the different colours produced when the earth is exposed to different minerals over time. Heaps of natural beauty. So many overlooks that make you realize just how small humans are in the grand scheme of things.
Toward the end of the road, closer to the other entrance to the park I found the visitor/information center. I looked at all the postcards available (heaps) but didn't buy any. Yet. I found the ranger desk, and started asking questions.
I learned a few things about the park. One, there aren't many marked hiking trails. Two, you can go anywhere you want in the park, SO LONG AS YOU CAN GET BACK. 

Not surprisingly, rangers aren't keen on searching for people who have gotten themselves lost, or in other kinds of trouble requiring help. I should've asked how often that happens.
I parked the car in an actual parkplatz and explored one area a bit more, just because I could. It was fun to climb up the rocks, and find hidden paths. It's easy to see how someone could get lost in a hurry. I watched a storm rolling in, the clouds were beautiful, especially next to the already stunning landscape. The wind was strong at this point, it blew my hat off my head!
I drove out of the park, and about 20 miles down the road to a small town called kadoka. I drove through the storm on the way, everyone on the road slowed down quite a bit, the rain was really heavy. Even with my wipers going as fast as possible, I could barely see through all the rain!

I don't know why, but there is very little accommodation close to or in the park. Kadoka is the closest town to this end of the park, it isn't big. There are a couple hotels, some petrol stations, a local library, a small grocery store, etc.
After checking in, I asked the front desk clerk for a recommendation of a restaurant, preferably of the local diner type. She told me about Aw Shucks diner, very easy to find.
It was awesome. Service was a little slow, but I will blame that on the one server being pregnant. I ordered on an empty stomach, which is a dumb thing to do. (Just like going grocery shopping on an empty stomach.) I ordered way too much, especially considering the portion sizes. I did my best to finish all the food (I hate to waste) but left some food on the plate. 

The next morning I drive back in the direction of the park, but turned a different way on the entry road when I saw a sign pointing to a minuteman missile museum. I found the museum, which had just opened; the displays weren't yet completely ready. I found out I could take a tour of an old missile launch control sight, I booked myself onto a tour at 1500.
I drove into the park, and found the correct parkplatz for the hike I wanted to do.
The hike was awesome. Afterward, the ranger told me I'd gone 7 miles. It took me a bit over 3 hours, hot and sunny. I wore a scarf around my neck to protect the skin, otherwise I would've been in a lot of pain from a bad sunburn. It was beautiful, with more stunning scenery. I'm really glad I had my camelbak, I drank almost all 3L of water. Amazing.
I drove back out of the park, back onto I-90. I drove west until I got to the right exit to find the former missile launch control sight. My tour group ended up being just three people, several others didn't show up. Our guide was actually someone who used to work in this facility. All the stories he had were from personal experience. Awesome.
He told us how the whole thing worked. He showed us how the facility was arranged, and he discussed some of the items we could see. He told us what they were supposed to do if the worst case happened, and a nuclear war was started. (Thankfully, that never happened.) I really liked learning from someone who had experience.

After the tour, I drove east again. I stopped for another meal at Aw Shucks, because I know the food would be good. This time I didn't order nearly as much :)
After dinner, I continued driving east. I drove all the way to Mitchell. Upon checking in to a hotel there, I found out is crossed the time zone line, and moved forward an hour.
After checking in I drove to the corn palace. I made it with 20 minutes to spare. It's a big building, nearly all the decoration is made with corn cobs. All the corn is local, a wide variety of colors. The check in clerk at my hotel told me they change the designs of the murals each year, there is always a new theme.
While I was inside, I found postcards, each had a year written on them. Very cool to see what the palace looked like during various years.

The next morning I enjoyed the hotel breakfast. Plenty of carbs again, but there were other options too. Yogurt, hard boiled eggs. And they had a waffle maker, fun!
Then I drove back to mundelein, Illinois. 'Only' nine hours of driving. I picked up my hosts at the airport that night, that small round trip added another 2 hours of driving.