The Badlands

The actual jail in Interior, South Dakota just outside the Badlands. Population: 71

Plains that stretch out forever.

Brothers at the Badlands.

The beautiful Badlands as far as the eye can see.

Eli waking up in the tent at the Badlands. He was very sweaty. The tent got hot in the morning.

I'm backing up a bit now since I had very little internet for the last week or so. We were in the Badlands around July 27th, which at this point, feels like about a thousand years ago. We have covered a lot of territory since then, but for now I will just say that I didn't remember the Badlands being as stunning and beautiful twenty years ago as I did on this trip. I loved the absolute abundance of these stony mountainous shapes stretching out in every direction with colorful plains in certain parts dotted with prairie dogs popping out from nowhere.

We all loved our campsite at the Badlands. We had wind, rain, and hot sun in the short time we were there. We devised a makeshift shield for our rainy windy picnic table using a plastic tarp and bungie cord. I held the tent in place will all my strength to keep it from blowing away while the rest of the family was climbing mini mountains. And we all woke up sweating in the morning from still having sweat shirts on after a cool night.

If you ever go to the Badlands, make sure you take the scenic drive all the way through them. Twenty years ago we neglected to do that, and so, did not get the full awesome experience of having our minds blown in the way we got to this time. As we drove through all we could say was "Whoa!" and "Wow!" No other words would really do.