After Departing Mt Rushmore, we decided to spend the night at Rapid City (a short drive back to the main highway). We signed up for a Cold War Missile Launch Command Tour. Little did we know that this tour was in the middle of no-where and they actually took us underground into 1 of 5 decommissioned Missile Launch capsules in the area.
This is the entrance to the capsule. Notice how thick the steel walls are. This was intended to be bomb proof. Even if they did get hit, it probably wouldn't be the blast that would kill them but the sonic shock waves bouncing off these walls on the inside that would kill everyone inside. ohh and its a low entrance as well, take a measurement from Kristy's head.
This is the interior of the Missile Launch command. Responsible for 150 intercontinental ballistic missiles, ready to be fired at a moments notice. This was a 2 man operation 24hrs a day, 12 hr shifts. It wasn't until the cold war was over did they notice that the Russians had 5 of their 2 mega tonne missiles aimed at each of the 5 capsules. A very important job and a scare tactic that eventually won the war
Included in this tour was a visit to a fully restored Missile Silo. If the Command capsule was to be taken out. A helicopter could remotely launch each missile individually while hovering above.
Not Live - No War Head Installed
In Rapid City we went shopping for lunch making food and found this:
1.5L bottle of wine in a safeway, hell yeah Guess which one we bought?
Dinner was at a place called Fuddruckers. Kristy dared me to take on a 2/3 pound Burger patty. That is 300g of meat. I succeeded but this was a challenge. And th Bun difference, Hers (Australian Normal) and Mine(American Normal)
The Mall of America was next on the to do list. This is the 2nd largest shopping mall in North America. The Largest was Edmonton (near Jasper, Canada).
Complete with a theme park inside the middle on the building. This photo (bellow) was taken from the food court of the Mall. This place also includes 3 levels of shops and our favorite shop - Best Buy (Harvey Norman equivalent)
We also found an Outback Steak House, Authentic Australian Dinning.
From here we start our 2 long days through Indianapolis to DC Washington
Look closely - That's what I though. Any way - this was shot out the back window by the time we found the camera
Over Night Stop ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiViQyKwe8v0ygCnO4IjVfQnBqDnu1kH1bJgRCIBlXsJTfZM6ziNu9VGRN5UKz0sxCgCKA396C1r84HxIB2r6K4g_9xNzi-K9iCdZDzBMigZ7-OMbhoN65HDQdMlT_YQd6bn44qN-_ht8/s400/10.JPG)
2 Days Later -
DC Washington
You probably remember this Map. So far we have traveled over 5000kms and have managed to drive across the entire length of the continent. From Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island all the way through to DC on the coast. Right now we are in DC just south of New york. A scenic detour route through DC. I have included our plan for the remainder of this epic road trip.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdKcRRfyujVt3UdVHkBuC9W_Sh0i9ZDhK78nRycAG_HYTjo23NAth6eyddO2-pZeV3W6GryPG-fqZrIp3ddn8T9SWqitty64zaJV0Kvwbk4yQlHvM3ybDAvRDpC_lVIpNxtRMOUcPg1is/s640/Map.jpg) |
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