21 May ‘08 Wednesday
Tuesday was going to be our last fully sunny day for the next couple of weeks so we jumped into the car and headed over to see the Badlands National Park.
Tuesday was going to be our last fully sunny day for the next couple of weeks so we jumped into the car and headed over to see the Badlands National Park.
We were about 75 miles west of them so making this drive was going to be an all day affair.
Badlands National Park consists of nearly 240,000 acres and made up of some of the most beautifully eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires that blend with the largest mixed grass prairie in the country.
In 1939, the government designated this area as the Badlands National Monument, and then in 1978 it was established as a National Park. The Badlands are a type of “arid terrain” where softer rocks and clay rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. Fact is, these softer rock/clay soils on the buttes, pinnacles and spires, lose about an inch of soil each year. Louise and I have had a chance to hike a number of canyons, ravines, gullies, and hoodoos in the last few months, but the canyons and all here are very difficult to navigate by foot. The soils just will not hold…it’s just like hiking on a soft sponge while on flat surfaces and the sides they just crumble at the touch. The Badlands don’t have the colors of those down south, but they definitely are mesmerizing as they stand there before you. They have their own beauty… Today we spent the day searching out and finding the DMV Office so that we could apply and pick up our new drivers license. It took no longer than 40 minutes and $8 a piece and we were officially licensed for the state of South Dakota. Next stop was the courthouse. There we were directed to the 2nd floor and the vehicle licensing department. Just like the first stop this morning, we were in and out in 30+ minutes and had written a $180 check for the motor home and the “toad” registration and plates. OK, time left over so what do we do now??? Geesss, a movie… we took in Baby Mamma. It was just “good”, you know, a movie that you would pick up at Safeway or someplace like that for the night.
The rain has finally caught us…I mean REALLY caught us… We are just about ready to pull up stakes, but with the water rushing all around us, we just might put up “sail” and hope for a trailing winds. Now it’s onto Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for Trev’s graduation.
The rain has finally caught us…I mean REALLY caught us… We are just about ready to pull up stakes, but with the water rushing all around us, we just might put up “sail” and hope for a trailing winds. Now it’s onto Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for Trev’s graduation.