Driving across South Dakota

Tuesday 7/17 5:00am - I would usually not be too happy to be woken up by the dogs at 4 something in the morning but today it was a treat because I got to watch the sunrise in the Badlands. It is amazing how the landscape changes from rolling prairie to the formations seen in the badlands. We are staying the in the Cedar Pass Campsite on the eastern edge of the park. I'm looking forward to exploring more of the park today.

Our Badlands National Park campsite

Yesterday we had a relaxing morning at the lake and all enjoyed watching the cute little chipmunks scurry around. I went for a seven mile run to explore the park and was proud of myself for handling the hills the way I did.

Pictures never do hills justice....

We started packing up around noon and headed west, stopping at a few places along the way including the famous Corn Palace in Mitchell and a rest stop in Chamberlain with a magnificent view of the Missouri (which we crossed for the 4th time), a statue and small museum with information about the journey of Lewis and Clark.

Some fun inside the Corn Palace. It was free and dog friendly!

They were still adding corn and other grains to the outside. Boys standing against wall.

View of the Missouri River from Chamberlain, SD

Girl Power - Dizzy and me with the Dignity Statue

Even though yesterdays journey was considerably shorter than the previous two days I think we were all tired of being in the truck. I did have a moment of pride when Aaron informed me that he wasn't going to do anything on his phone and just wanted to play car games with us instead. To keep this real, although I was so happy to hear those words at the beginning of the drive, I was kind of wishing he would pull out his phone by the end of it. He did enjoy seeing a vibrant rainbow after going through a Florida-like downpour and some crops being harvested. As for me I'm still enjoying going old school and living without a phone.

The boys loved the fact we were on Butte Loop.

On our way to dinner

The boys are together at the right side of the formatiom

We arrived at Badlands National Park just before dinner, got set up and headed to the Cedar Pass Restaurant about 1/4 mile from our site. Lin and I got Sioux Indian Tacos and the boys got buffalo burgers. Staff was friendly, food was good and reasonably priced. In an effort to stay with the local theme of night Lin and I also enjoyed some beer and wine from the area. After dinner the boys scaled some of the rocks as the sunset and then we went to see the ranger presentation at the amphitheater. Last nights talk was about bats. I learned some new facts about bats and the way they hunt and Aaron enjoyed his moment of fame after being picked to help hold one of the props. We all left the presentation in a good mood and headed to bed so that we can get out hiking today. At the end of the day we all agreed that the drive had been worth it!