Okay, so the Mennonites, referred to above were from yesterday’s national park not today’s but I needed another M. Plus the devotee in question was a 5 year old in a modest bonnet and pigtails rocking some killer shades so I had to give her a shout out somewhere.
Today was a glorious day. Why? Was it due to the closeness of last night’s campsite to my first destination of the day? Was it due to all of the Timothy Olyphant daydreams I have had since booking a night in Deadwood? Was it due to getting to check off two national parks from my list in one day? Nope. It was because I only had to drive in one state today. ONE! I think I even put less than 300 miles on the car today. Inconceivable! (And yes, all of those other things did add to the good day.)
I covered Badlands and Wind Cave National Parks today and did something I haven’t gotten to do much of on this trip – got out of the car and walked around. Most of the other parks have been “drive around me” parks or had really long trails that just did not fit into my schedule. Today’s parks were short and sweet visits to the land of erosion. The Badlands look as though someone tried to imagine what was missing from the Grand Canyon and then sculpted it out of a gravel pile. You feel like if you touch the formations they will just fall apart and blow away. The truth is, though you can’t break them on your own, they are eroding at an alarming rate. While nearby Mt. Rushmore erodes 1/10 inch every 1,000 years, the US Geological Survey marker sunk in the 1950’s had to be replaced because the rock it was in had eroded to the point that it had sunk a foot. One foot in 50-ish years is pretty crazy. The flip side of my day was cave dwelling. Where Lehmann Caves in Great Basin was “decorated” all over with formations to the point you couldn’t really see the cave walls, the Wind Cave is virtually bare. It is Pocahontas to Great Basin’s Marie Antoinette.
I do feel a bit sorry for Badlands. You see I shortchanged that park greatly and I really should visit it again someday. You see, I found out the Minuteman Missile Silo was just next door and so I had to go see it. Do I need to explain why? It has missile in the title for goodness sake. Missile!
There was also a lot of wildlife in my day today. Between Wind Cave, a prairie dog themed souvenir shack just outside Badlands, and Custer State Park there were an awful lot of animals in my day today. I fed some prairie dogs, watched bison lounging in a picnic pavilion and scared the bejesus out of an antelope and her baby I have learned how to spot an animal in the wild. It is the same concept as finding a fresh kill in the Serengeti. Just look for the circling buzzards and go where they go. When in a national park with no real rock formations anytime a person has pulled over to the side of the road it is usually due to a big game sighting.
Crazy Horse Memorial was my last non-Deadwood stop of the day and it was very much worth the time. The four dollars for the bus ride from the visitors center to the base of the statue was money well spent even if the bus driver did tell the most God awful jokes. There was even a mountain goat sighting . The bus driver pulled over and told us where to look. You would think that the 8 military men in BDUs would have been able to figure that out themselves but noooo.
Now I am currently typing this as I lie in bed, ready for a good night’s sleep that won’t end at 5am. It’s been a long day. I am sleeping in a room that is quite possibly haunted. I am halfway through my trip. I have caught up on my journaling. There is no reason in the world that I shouldn’t be sleeping right now.
And so I will leave you with this one final image: Driving through Custer State Park…on a Harley…portly man…silver mullet waving in the wind…sunlight glinting off his un-helmeted head…the American Dream.
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