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Heading Home
Since I was coming back this way anyhow, I had to take one last look at The Badlands, to last me until my next visit.  
This is the original vista, still breathtaking, thirty years after my first view of the place.
Another look over the former sea bed, which has become one of the richest sources of fossils in the world.
See you in a year or so. 
I had been here over a year ago, to see the missile site. It is well worth the visit, of you are going out here. On this trip, I had no time, and at any rate reservations must be made far in advance to have any hope of going down into the underground launch center.
The gas station, rest stop, and general store, a few miles down the road from The Badlands. The area is experiencing a rare episode of fog and light rain.
Though I can not get out on one of the tours, without a reservation, there are a few things to look at, in the Minuteman site headquarters. This case displays some patches and uniforms.
A look around headquarters. This area is not so much a museum, as it is a waiting room for tour groups. Only 6-8 people are taken down at a time, and generally there are only two such groups a day.
A display case, adjacent to the front desk.
During the day, a video is show, among relics of decommissioned silos. The chair is taken from a launch control center, and was originally designed as a bomber seat.
Left:
The entrance to Minuteman Missile NHS.

Below:
Al's Oasis, at the edge of the Missouri, welcomes me back into the relatively benign environs of the nominal Midwest.
Back in Minnesota, I will be in Wisconsin in a few hours. Though I love the West, this always feels like home to me.
A look back, towards South Dakota. There is always next year.
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