This is our last day camping in the West and we spent it in the Badlands!
a pronghorn
one of the 120 bighorn in the Badlands
pronghorn sheep
a prairie dog town
those are buffalo, not seals
This is our last day camping and we spent it in the
Badlands!
After a simple breakfast of cereal and coffee we returned to
the Visitors’ Center and watched a movie about the area which emphasized the
difficulty of both surviving and making a living in this area that was once
entirely part of the Lakota Nation. We
then drove to the “Door” & “Window” trailheads where we took short hikes
into the Badlands. From there we drove
across the park, stopping at numerous pullovers to enjoy the landscape and
wildlife. Even in this barren wasteland
we saw some beautiful fall foliage!
We also saw prairie dogs by the thousand, a small group of
pronghorn sheep, some bighorn sheep, and finally after a 6+ mile drive down a
gravel road, the iconic buffalo. A whole
herd of them!
With our wildlife fix satisfied, we stopped in Wall, the
home of the classic tourist trap, Wall Drug, who have hundreds of billboards
throughtout the Dakotas; very similar to I-95’s “South of the Border. After a quick walk through of the mall like
Wall Drug, which sells everything from Western Wear to fudge, we had an
enjoyable lunch at the Badlands Saloon, and then headed back toward the eastern
end of the national park.
Before re-entering the park, we stopped at the nearby “Minuteman
Missile National Historical Site” which is a museum to the Cold War and
numerous Minuteman Missile launch control facilities that located in this area,
North Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. It
was fascinating and creepy; especially with Trump and Kim Jong-un playing their
daily game of chicken. I left the
following message in the visitors log, “…if Trump calls, don’t answer!”
All in all, today was a relaxing one. We only recorded 78 miles on our odometer,
and we were back at our campsite by 4 pm.
Tomorrow we start our trip home with stops in Madison,
Wisconsin, West Bloomfield, Michigan; to visit my sister, Wendy; and Massena,
New York; to visit Joni’s Aunt Roey.
This will be my last blog entry for this incredible
trip. My father always talked about
taking such a trip, but he never made it.
He would have loved it.
Joni and I have indeed been fortunate to visit so much of
our beautiful country. Words,
photographs and videos don’t do it justice.
As much as the thrill of seeing so many of our country’s natural
resources, we have equally enjoyed the people that we have met along the
way. Travellers seem to be more willing
to talk to each other as we explore our country’s treasures.
Can’t wait to start planning our next trip!