Day 11 & 12- Running from the Heat & Wind; Minuteman Delta-01 Tour

Like the rest of the nation, we were experiencing high temperatures as well as high winds in the Badlands. As mentioned in my last post, we packed up early and moved to a KOA in Rapid City, SD where we could plug in, run all 3 AC's and take long showers to get rid of the dust and dirt.

The proverb, when god closes a door he opens a window, was appropriate. We didn't plan to visit Rapid City but thoroughly enjoyed our time there. Rapid City is known as the "City of Presidents" a series of life-sized bronze statues of past American Presidents line their streets. They include every President from Washington to Obama, more details at https://www.visitrapidcity.com/things-to-do/all-things/attractions/city-presidents. After a thorough cleaning of the rig, we had an outstanding dinner and bottle of Brunello at Sabatino’s Italian Ristorante and then walked the streets to see some of the Presidents.

We got up early the next morning and drove the Jeep back to the Badlands, we had tour tickets to visit Minuteman Delta-01 Launch Control Facility. Jim was our guide, now a park ranger, he worked in this facility from 1973-1979 as both crew and commander. He provided great insight into the history, the cold war and what it was like to live and work in a nuclear missile field. Throughout the Plains from 1963 through the early 1990s, there were 1,000s of missile silos. In this area of South Dakota, there were 15 Launch Control Facilities (bunkers), that controlled 150 Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles that were kept in a constant state of readiness. As Jim pointed out, threat of destruction acted as a deterrent to enemies while paradoxically preserving an uneasy peace.

The facility is 31' below ground encased in 36" of steel and concrete, it is suspended with huge shock absorbers that if they were hit it would bounce around but survive. Jim walked us through normal daily operations of testing readiness, training and changes since he was there in the 70's and what we saw that was from the early 90's. He also walked us through "WWIII", what would happen to actually launch a missile. Unlike in the movies, there is no way to stop or reroute a missile, if launched, it won't stop until it hits it's target.

After touring the launch facility, we stopped at Delta-09 Missile Silo, the steel cover is partially pulled back and glass mounted

on top so you can see into the silo. Kind of unnerving looking down at an ICBM!!
Stats: drive 56 miles
Weather: continued upper 90's, low 69, sunny with haze.
Pictures: some of the Presidents, Delta-01 topside & bunker, Delta-09 missile silo.