A Good Day Getting To the Badlands (SD)

We left Nebraska still raining and took the scenic route thru the Sand Hills --claimed to be the largest grass covered sand dune area in the world. Cattle grazing on the rolling hills. The road paralleled a railroad track that had train after train carrying coal--each train 1.4 miles long as measured by car odometer! Railroads are serious business out here. (How did Jenny get such good pictures of everything?)

When we got to Valentine we stopped for a Nebraska steak dinner----the legend of great mid-western beef appears to be true!
   As we strolled the mainstreet of town we came to an amazing building, which had a brick front sculpture. Apparently the artist carved the bricks before they were fired, and kept perfect track of where each one went. the picture below is of a small section of the wall.

 Finally we made it to the Badlands. The sky cleared and we got our first look. This area appears to be an ancient seabed that eroded into this dramatic shape.

Thanks for reading!