7/17/2007

The next day was a long drive day. The boys did pretty well. They played Legos and watched a movie or two. We got into Badlands National Park at around 3pm (I think). We were immediately met by some outstanding jagged formations. What a cool geography! And so varied. There are steep, teeth-like peaks, sod tables (flat butte-like things), rounded mounds, and even the occasional hoodoo. Every cliff is banded in grays and rust reds. Although I must say that the formations were smaller than they at first appeared. They looked like they should be huge mountains, but most were less than a hundred feet tall.

It was hot and a little windy. The first thing I discovered, while setting up the tent, was that I had left the tent stakes at the last campsite. So Dad ran off to try to purchase stakes so the tent wouldn't blow away. After a successful (overpriced) shopping trip, I returned triumphant to camp where Sweetie said "Walk in the tent." I did so, to discover that actually the tent stakes were trapped underneath the tent. (Chagrin.) We made dinner (bratwursts) and had just enough time to catch the ranger program on re-introduction of native mammal species to the park - bison, swift foxes, black-footed ferrets, and mountain goats.

At bedtime, it was hot. The Things were tired, and fell asleep quickly, but I sweated and tossed for a while. I think I woke up around 2 or 3 am, and by then it had cooled off to a comfortable temperature. The next morning, we had a quick breakfast and then went on a ranger-led geology walk. It wasn't that informative. Sweetie told Thing 1 he needed to become a geologist so he could tell us about how the formations, uh, formed. It was hot. (This is a theme.) The weather report said it was supposed to be 102. We hung out in the visitor center for a while. Their displays were great, and they had a very nice 20 minute movie. (And it was air-conditioned!) Then it was time for Thing 1's Junior Ranger program, which was also on geology, and followed the same course as the geology walk that morning. Oops. Anyway, with that out the way, it was back for hot lunch. We decided that in the afternoon we would stay out of the heat by staying in the car. We first drove up to Minuteman Missile National Monument, and Thing 1 got a second Junior Ranger badge. From there we were going to go on a loop drive. We decided to stop off at the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands office. They had a great educational display as well - we highly recommend it - and it also had a Junior Ranger- like program, so Thing 1 earned a third badge.

We did eventually get on the loop drive, although we took a wrong turn so it wasn't really a loop. We saw a huge prairie dog city which was great. The little guys were peeking out and running around. Very cute. We also saw some mountain goats, mommies and babies. Very cool. And one bison at great distance (somewhat disappointing). The views down into the valley were amazing. There was again the huge variety in the landscape, this time with the vast grasslands running right up to the edge of the severe landscape. Very striking. We also saw one area where plant like caused yellows and greens to run into and intensify the reds of the soil in these nicely rounded mounds.

We decided it was too hot to cook dinner, so we made the mistake of going to the Cedar Lodge restaurant. I don't know what the problem was, but it took forever for us to get our food, and it was overcooked when we got it. This was not great for two hungry, tired Things. But at least it was air-conditioned. We got back to camp in time for the ranger program on the history of the Badlands. This was not engaging for the youngsters, so they left. Once again at bedtime, it was sweaty-hot. But we slept okay.

The next morning (this morning) Sweetie got up early to bird. We made pancakes for breakfast, which went very smoothly, and then broke camp. They boys greatly enjoyed running up and down the little hills, while we packed up. We saw a few bunnies around camp. We drove over to the site of a paleological dig called the big pig dig. It was cool to see actual scientists doing their work. There was a jaw that was already plastered up, and a spine and another jaw being uncovered. The Things really like this.

We left the Badlands, and its heat and hard water behind. I really enjoyed the scenery, but I wasn't sorry to be leaving. I can see why the homesteaders called it the Badlands. We drove over to Custer State Park, which is lovely and has lots to do. We did the wild life drive, but didn't see too much wildlife: a few pronghorns, and some prairie dogs. The bison herd was off in a valley. But the day was saved by the Chuckwagon Dinner. We got hats and bandannas and loaded into big wagon (pulled by pickups). We took off down the road and right into the middle of the herd of 400 bison. We were surrounded by cows and calfs, and the huge bulls. It was really impressive. We had a singer on the wagon who was very good and funny. We sang songs the whole way. Dinner was unremarkable, but tasty. There was more music, and a little dancing (the hokey-pokey and chicken dance?) And then it was back on the wagons and home. The boys loved it. Tonight we're staying in a cute little cabin and taking some well-deserved showers.