Missiles And BadLands     08/13/21

Cedar Pass Campground, Interior, South Dakota

Then Jacob kissed Rachel and began to weep aloud.  He had told Rachel that he was a relative of her father and a son of Rebekah.  So she ran and told her father.  As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he hurried to meet him.  He embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his home, and there Jacob told him all these things.  Then Laban said to him, “You are my own flesh and blood.” ~ Genesis 29:11-14a      In these verses, we’ve established the family relationship.  Laban is Jacob’s uncle.  Rachel is his cousin (which back then, didn’t mean what it does nowadays).  And everyone’s happy.  Jacob has met his wife and is smitten by her already.  Rachel seems to reciprocate.  And Laban has added a ‘son’ to his family, and one who is not afraid of hard work.  And so goes God’s Providence.

This will be a different sort of post, because Blaine has to write half of it.  😊

He visited a missile silo this morning!  What did I do while he was gone?  I re-visited Spearfish Canyon; i.e. worked on the blog, of course!  While his time may have been more adventurous, my view was to die for! 

Trust me, it was much, MUCH better than the picture would lead you to believe!  By the way, do you know what ‘i.e.’ means?  I know the meaning and use it frequently, but what does it stand for?  It’s the abbreviation for the Latin phrase id est, meaning “that is.”, which we also translate into “in other words”.  There’s your grammar lesson for the day, with a side of Latin thrown in for good measure. 😊

Here’s what Blaine has to say about his adventure:

Minuteman Missile Sites were established in the United States in the early 1960s.  The Air Force has preserved three sites in western South Dakota that were decommissioned in 1991, as National Historic Sites.  What I visited today was the command center for fifty missile silos.

I had made reservations about six weeks ago, and there was only one opening left for the entire two weeks we’re here, so I went alone.  The groups are limited to six people.

We went inside and learned about the living quarters of those stationed there.  There were always three security, a commanding officer, two below ground inside the command center (manning the keys and buttons, for twelve hours), and two more up top (who took over the alternate shift), for a total of eight.  And let’s not forget the cook!  There were also transient maintenance people who worked a sixteen hour shift, which began when they left Ellis Air Force Base an hour away.

Everything was left as-is when they closed the place in 1991. Closed due to the agreement drawn up between the US and the Soviet Union.  We each had 1,000 or so armed missiles at the time.  There were never any missiles at this command center.  There were numerous ones strewn about the countryside. 

Devin, who actually works for our National Park Service, explained the construction of the command center (about 32’ below ground) before we went down the elevator to view the area.

There are two other sites nearby.  One holds an actual decommissioned missile. The other is a Visitor Center built in 2015.  Terri and I will visit those on one of our days here, and I’m certain there’ll be more information.

I’m turning this back over to Terri. I don’t much like working on this. : )

Blaine returned shortly before lunch, and after lunch, we went sightseeing.  We’d planned on just stopping at the overlooks and taking on short walks to those overlooks, so I just wore my sandals.  It worked out, but I probably should’ve worn my tennis shoes and socks.  Anyway, this place is just amazing!  Everywhere you look!  We are constantly standing in awe of what our Creator has given us to enjoy!  Not just here, but everywhere we go!

First a stop at the Visitor Center.

And now, we explore!

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