The first three days of our trip were merely put in place to get us out to our first true destination - Wall, South Dakota - to visit Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands and Wind Cave National Park. With a total of about 1650 miles driven through states, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska (almost cheating, here - just wanted to hop into Nebraska to add to my visited-states count) we found ourselves in South Dakota. Arriving around 7:00, Mountain Time, we popped up the camper, set up camp and decided to hit Wall Drug (a story in itself http://www.walldrug.com) for dinner. To our horror, the weather turned poor and we were stuck in the middle of an intense storm. It was beautiful, at first; a patchwork of fireworks illuminated the sky, and then the sirens went off! We were ushered to the basement with 20 or so other patrons where we spent about two hours waiting out the storm - scary and thrilling at the same time. Luckily, no one was hurt, but our tent (which we also brought for this trip) bit the dust, so to speak.
The next day, we decided to hike the Badlands. It was stunning!
The juxtaposition of lush prairie grasslands and barren, cavernous sedimentary rock made for an awe inspiring view. Before hiking, we visited the prairie dog town in northern part of the park.
The kids delighted in seeing tons of these curious creatures, perched on their dirt mounds calling in chirp-like fashion to one another announcing their human spectators. http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/132650631/new-language-discovered-prairiedogese
For this part of the trip, we've been joined by our friends, Stacey and Andy Mowrer, whose daughter Bella is pictured here with Kyra pointing out one of the adorable critters.
After leaving the prairie dogs, we catch sight of several bison and big-horned sheep from the safety of our car as we meander 20+ miles through the Badlands National Park. From the visitor's center, we choose to do a shorter hike that leaves you in the middle of an easily-hiked, marked section of popular buttes.
The area was magestic, offering original vistas with each conquered area. It was easy to imagine oneself as an early American explorer, being struck by the austere beauty of this area.
Such an ambitious day of being pioneers called for a hearty evening meal, which came in the shape of a Dakota specialty pheasant dish (it's the SD state bird) in Deadwood, SD. We dined at the Deadwood Social Club, situated atop the Saloon no. 10, which had been thrust into legendary status as the place Wild Bill Hickok was killed - shot in the back of the head still holding his Poker cards. His hand, a pair of eights and a pair of aces 'Aces and Eights' is now referred to as the Dead Man's Hand. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok
An excellent end to an incredibly eventful day, and a wonderful way to celebrate our romance with the West.
The juxtaposition of lush prairie grasslands and barren, cavernous sedimentary rock made for an awe inspiring view. Before hiking, we visited the prairie dog town in northern part of the park.The kids delighted in seeing tons of these curious creatures, perched on their dirt mounds calling in chirp-like fashion to one another announcing their human spectators. http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/132650631/new-language-discovered-prairiedogese For this part of the trip, we've been joined by our friends, Stacey and Andy Mowrer, whose daughter Bella is pictured here with Kyra pointing out one of the adorable critters.After leaving the prairie dogs, we catch sight of several bison and big-horned sheep from the safety of our car as we meander 20+ miles through the Badlands National Park. From the visitor's center, we choose to do a shorter hike that leaves you in the middle of an easily-hiked, marked section of popular buttes.The area was magestic, offering original vistas with each conquered area. It was easy to imagine oneself as an early American explorer, being struck by the austere beauty of this area.Such an ambitious day of being pioneers called for a hearty evening meal, which came in the shape of a Dakota specialty pheasant dish (it's the SD state bird) in Deadwood, SD. We dined at the Deadwood Social Club, situated atop the Saloon no. 10, which had been thrust into legendary status as the place Wild Bill Hickok was killed - shot in the back of the head still holding his Poker cards. His hand, a pair of eights and a pair of aces 'Aces and Eights' is now referred to as the Dead Man's Hand. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_HickokAn excellent end to an incredibly eventful day, and a wonderful way to celebrate our romance with the West.