ON TO THE RETREAT

 I got up early and went exploring the Badlands National Park.  It is amazingly beautiful.

I went for a short walk around a boardwalk - it said to watch out for snakes.  Didn't see any but saw lots of beautiful plants and flowers.

I did see a Mountain Goat here though.

I had to wait until 8am for the Minute Man National Historic Park to open.  Normally, you could sign up for a tour down into the silo, but at the moment it's closed for repairs or something.  I would love to do that someday, but not today.  I have a long ways to go yet.  So, I got my passport stamped and headed out.

Since I'm in South Dakota, I wanted to stop in on the Capital Building in Pierre.  I must say, it's one of the most beautiful I've seen.  The marble and tile inside are very special.  But I didn't take photos of that.

Next and last stop in South Dakota was Britton, where my mother was born. 

The hospital where she was born is now an apartment building.

This plaque is outside that building.

I then headed north to North Dakota.  It was only about an hour's drive to Hankinson where the retreat would be held and I would meet up with my internet buddies.  We are staying at the St Francis Retreat Center, a convent.

I went 407 miles today.  That's a total of 2090 miles to get here.