Day Two South Dakota - July 14, 2009

Our morning was quite damp and chilly, and we enjoyed bagels and yogurt outside the cabin. After we loaded up, we began our journey to the Badlands National Park. The drive was slightly over 3 hours, and the kids slept for a good portion of the drive. The landscape was distinctly South Dakota, with beautiful rolling hills (actual hills, not those bumps in the road that Sebastian calls hills along Reinbeck, Iowa).

Nearing the Badlands, the kids had woken up to see the landscape change from green, lush, rolling hills to massive, stark mountains (okay, we Iowans call them mountains). We gave a very cheery shout "Hello" as we neared the park and I read a Badlands creation myth I had found on the Badlands National Park website. I had previously told the children that the Badlands had been one of my favorite parts of my childhood South Dakota trip, so they were anxious to see the place I loved so much.

When we arrived, we laughed at the giant Prairie Dog and took the kids pictures at the park entrance sign. The wind nearly blew them away. In fact, the wind gusts reached 41 mph that day and we had to stake the tent down before setting it up.

Our first stop was the Visitor Center, where the most helpful and friendly Park Rangers provided the kids with their Jr. Ranger book and suggested the Passport books as well. We wandered through the museum area, which was very informative and had activities and information appropriate for both kids and adults. In fact, Matthew didn't ever want to leave, but we did eventually drag him out by promising to come back the next morning before we left.

Our next stop was the campgrounds, which provided a majestic view of the badlands, interrupted by powerlines. As I stated earlier, we pitched the tent while it was staked down and then used our clothesline to tie it to a parking barricade in hopes that it would not blow away. We ate some lunch and then headed out to the ranger talk on fossils, which was to be held at 2:30 at the Fossil Exhibit Trail. It appeared that the Fossil Exhibit Trail was off Castle Trail, so we decided to hike a bit, but discovered very early on that we were going to miss the program. The kids were having so much fun during the hike, that we kept going for over an hour, finding cacti, rabbits, and a toad in one small little pool of water.

After an hour, and hitting trail marker number 33, we sat in the little bit of shade we could find, slipped off the camelbaks, and enjoyed some granola bars. After the refresher, we turned around and the kids now led the way, no longer afraid of running into rattlesnakes. Once, back at the car, we decided to head out to Robert's Praire Dog Town, as the kids were pretty set on seeing prairie dogs. Along the way, we saw a sign on the left-hand side of the road, advertising a Fossil Talk at 3:30. Low and behold, we found the Fossile Exhibit Trail! The talk was very educational and well presented and we followed it up with a quick meander through the handicap accessible trail.

We continued on to the prairie dog town, which was quite the success. The kids were rolling as they watched the little guys bark, bounce, and run. But after having dust blown in our eyes, noses, and mouth, we got back in the car and continue the Badland Loop, which provided us with even more success when we came upon a female bighorn sheep and her baby and a American Bison bull munching along the side of the road.

Once back at camp, around 7:00 pm, we heated up our freeze-dried Chicken Terikayi, which was quite challenging with high winds and a propane stove, put on our pajamas, and headed to the evening ranger talk. On arrival, we discovered that the winds prevented the ranger from giving the normal program, so she very nicely opened up the floor to questions. Matthew asked about the goats we had seen, which turned out to be the bighorn sheep, and Sebastian asked about the colored bands of rock, which turned out to be iron oxide (rust) and a yellow ocher.

We headed to bed around 10:00 pm, with Gabriella sleep walking around 1:00 am and three of us making a potty run around 2:00 am. But we slept well enough to be rested for our first adventure to Wall Drug and our first day in the Black Hills.