For hundreds of miles along westbound I-90, travelers are confronted with Wall Drug billboards, so we had to stop. Wall is the name of the city and the combination drug/souvenir/book/jewelry/clothing/footwear/artwork store combined with a huge Cafe and museum. It is a capitalist’s dream.

Outside of Wall is the Minuteman Missle National Historic Site. There is a Visitors Center and a nearby deactivated missile silo to visit. Me is a USAF SAC Cold War veteran who worked with our nuclear stockpile, though not ICBMs. Before George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the START 1 agreement in 1991, there were close to 1,000 of these silos in the western plains. Minuteman was our primary Cold War weapon of deterrence for 35 years.

Above: Visitors Center

Below: Missle silo site. The sign on the fence warns that it is a restricted area and the use of deadly force is authorized. Me standing next to the blast-hardened silo door. Glass silo cover is installed to allow a view down into the silo containing an inert training minuteman missile.