Reby's Weight Loss and Breast Cancer Journey: Weigh in Monday without the Weigh in

On day 7 we started out in this museum in Wall, SD.

Well, I put these pictures in the wrong place and it's too hard to shift them around. This is day seven of the trip, and day six is below the text that I wrote first. I guess I didn't have the cursor in the right place when I selected this group of photos, so they came in at the top instead of the bottom. It's way too much trouble to fix it, so just be aware that things are out of order today!
Sorry!

Kiri was a lovely Lakota woman who showed us around this first room. It is full of handicrafts, but I couldn't look long enough because she had a big school group coming in for a demonstration.

So we went right on into the main exhibit area.

This was a large, tastefully done presentation on the massacre. It was also far more balanced in its presentation than the little one out by the cemetery.

Mark and I had just read a book about Wounded Knee written entirely from the Lakota viewpoint. At the end were the survivors' memories or depositions from trial. This board, and the same amount on the back, are quotes from some of those survivors.

Then we walked across the street to Wall Drug. Mark bought himself a shirt and a belt in this store.

Originally Wall Drug WAS a pharmacy. I went in here and bought DayQuil for my cold.

I found a buddy to share a bench with.

Mark posed with all the statues of famous people. This is Wild Bill Hickock.

The original owners, the Hustead family, gave themselves five years to make a go of this store. They started in 1931, and it wasn't going too well. In 1935, they thought to put billboards out on the main road, advertising free ice water for the hot, dusty traveler. It was a HUGE success ever after!

And the coffee is still only a nickel!

Mark also had the chance to ride a Jack-a-Lope!

He can never pass up a shooting gallery, and he made every shot!

I loved this little gator. Gave me a little taste of home.

Heading west?

About 20 minutes back east from Wall is this site, so important during the Cold War.

A MIssileer in his seat in the bunker, waiting for the word.

Another passport stamp. My book is filling up nicely.

There were 500 missiles in silos across the west, 150 were in SD. Now there are only 2 left in SD for tourists to view. Neither are armed, of course.

This is a self-guided tour, using your cell phone.

Standing by the silo

Looking down at the missile.

Our last tour of the day was back in Wall.

This is my very last stamp of the trip. I've lost count of how many there were.


Once we finished this exhibit, we drove about 45 minutes into Rapid City to spend the last night before flying home the next day.

OK, now that you finished those photos, here's where the blog was supposed to begin!

Haha! I got up at 6:20 to let the dogs out, and the next thing I knew it was 8:40. I am now eating breakfast, but I never weighed in. I don't like weighing in later in the morning and after I've eaten because it's going to show a higher weight than first thing in the early morning, when I usually weigh myself. Maybe tomorrow....

I saw a picture on Facebook this morning that Lowell and Emily are drinking wine again, only this time it's in Rome! They certainly do enjoy their wine.

I slept through the second half of the Planes: Fire and Rescue movie yesterday. Bummer, because that move was definitely good. Still, I had a feeling it would be hard to stay awake around 3:30 in the afternoon. That's my usual nap time!

Today we are leaving this morning around 11:15 to have lunch in Bowie with some of Mark's former co-workers. They have had a tradition of meeting once a month for lunch for a very, very long time. He used to go out with them when we still lived in Laurel, and today we will both go have lunch with the group. It should be fun.

Meanwhile, here are the next two days from the vacation. We went through the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation to visit the site of the massacre at Wounded Knee. We also drove through the Badlands National Park (yes, there was a stamp!), and into Wall, SD. Wall is famous for Wall Drug, a giant complex of stores and cafes that literally started as a pharmacy that gave out free ice water! Also in Wall, is the National Grasslands Visitor Center (more stamps) and the Wounded Knee Museum. Outside of Wall is the Minuteman Missile Silo National Historic Site (yet another stamp).Tomorrow's blog will cover our final day before flying home.

On our way out of Custer to Wounded Knee, we had to drive through the Wind Cave National Park again. This time a HUGE herd of buffalo were on both sides of the road and even crossing the road! So beautiful.

Plaque at the site of the Wounded Knee massacre on the Pine Ridge reservation.

Looking up the hill from the plaque at the site of the mass burial and monument. That was the hill that the 7th Cavalry had used to train their big Hotchkiss guns down on the tribe.

There are 44 names on this monument because those were the names that were known. There are many more buried together here in the big mass grave. Over 200 men, women, and children were shot.

Souvenir shop and visitor center next to the cemetery.

This facility needs more money to fix it up more. It doesn't look like many people visit it because this is really off the beaten track. We bought two hand made necklaces and left a large donation.

There are two Visitor Centers to the Badlands, which covers a huge area. This one is on the reservation, so it's jointly operated with the Lakota people.

The Sioux nation encompasses the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people, but I read somewhere that the word Sioux was never used by them. I'm not sure where that word came from.

Looking over the exhibits, and yes, I got a stamp although I didn't put that picture up.

Continuing to drive through the Badlands and the Grasslands until we got to the next Visitor Center area.

Getting the stamp at this visitor center, too.

This reminds me of some of the landscapes in Arizona.

Yeah, these signs are everywhere. This is the only poisonous snake in SD. Hey, we have four poisonous kinds in FL, including rattlesnakes.

This is the pass in the Badlands where Chief Big Foot led his people from farther north down to Pine Ridge to have a council meeting at the reservation. Unfortunately, they only got as far as Wounded Knee creek. It was also December and covered in deep snow.