Bad, Bad Lands

I feel like we are finally “out west”. This is prairie dog land; tumbleweed territory; big sky country. About 45 miles west of the KOA, we entered the Badlands National Park. We obtained our “America the Beautiful” park pass which will allow us to enter all U.S. National Parks for the next year—a deal for us at $80.00. The Badlands is a spectacular expanse of eroded rock formations. Gazing into the chasms, you can easily picture Native Americans wandering through on their horses, as well as early European settlers weeping at the site of the formidable land to be crossed.

One of the best moments in the 32 mile drive through the Northern Unit of the park was coming across a large colony of prairie dogs on the side of the road. With our windows down, we heard their squeaks before actually seeing them. Of course, we had to stop to take some pictures. We also spotted a lone bison grazing in the valley below.

Our next stop was “Wall Drugs” in the town of Wall, South Dakota, just at the exit of the park. For hundreds of miles we had been learning about the endless variety of stuff one could find at this super-store of the Wild West, thanks to billboards scattered along Interstate 90. Basically, it was a huge souvenir store/tourist trap, but it was fun. We bought three postcards, a highlighter, and two scoops of ice cream, then headed towards the Black Hills, home of Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore... Well, let’s just say that Gideon and I are divided about the $10 we spent to park there and the 10 minutes we spent to observe the carved mountain side. I thought it was kind of impressive; but then again, I’m kind of into the presidential thing ever since we lived in Washington, D.C. Gideon’s words were, “It confirmed my lack-luster expectations and I would have rather seen the rocks unscarred.” Oh Gideon. You know what they say... you can please some people some of the time, but you can’t please all the people all of the time. One out of two ain’t bad.

Now we are working our way through Wyoming. It’s about 5:30 in the evening. The sun is blazing hot and this laptop on my lap isn’t helping matters. We don’t have anymore audio books downloaded, so we are entertaining ourselves by spotting pronghorns (deer-like animals that are all over the prairie), chewing on beef jerky, and listening to country music. It’s kind of early in this journey for country music, but I’m gonna go with it and think of my country lovin’ brother-in-law, Tim, and sister Myra. Did I just hear “We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces/Whiskey for my men and beer for my horses”? Maybe it’s time for a nap.