Badlands National Park...August 30 - Day 4

(Kim's Perspective)

This morning we woke up early so that we could scope the campground out for campers who were vacating.  We got lucky and ended up with a site by the horse camp that was large enough to accommodate both campers.  It turned out to be a great spot.

So, we moved from here (parked along the side of the road)...

 ...to here....yes, that's MUCH better.

 

The Sitts' electric jack was malfunctioning so while Mr. Sitt was tinkering with it, I took Shele for a ride on the bike to check out the buffalo.  We headed back after a bit and ate some breakfast before heading out on the scenic tour.  Bill and I rode the bikes and Bill and Shele followed in their truck.  I brought my small camera along so it would fit better in my MC bag, but somewhere along the way... on I-80 in Iowa no doubt...the lens or aperture got messed up so I was left with cell phones for picture taking.  Grrr. 

 We stopped at all the touristy overlooks and I was quite pleased that Bill and Shele were really awed by the views and just the experience in general.  They've been really great sports about this whole trip.  When I would ask Shele what she wanted to see or do, she always replied with something along the lines of "it will all be new to me so anything you come up with is good".  This makes it sound like it would be simple to plan a 2.5 week vacation with folks that are that easy to get along with, but it's still surprisingly difficult.  I wanted to make sure that they had a good time but we generally have very different ideas of what "fun" is as far as outdoor adventures go, so I was feeling a bit nervous that they were going to hate it.  Fortunately, my worry proved to be for naught and, apart from the endless driving, they are now seeming to really enjoy themselves. 

At one of the trail head parking areas, we tossed our gear into their truck and we all headed out to one of the trails and walked for a bit.  We didn't go far and weren't gone for long since Bill and I weren't really geared up for hiking, but it was nice to scramble along the rocks with them and give them a taste for some non-East Coast hiking. 

We finished the drive and headed towards Wall and stopped for gas along the way.  Shele walked up to us while we were filling up and said they were going to get some ice cream.  A) She loves ice cream.  B) She said she had never had ice cream in South Dakota.  Reason B was really just her excuse for Reason A.  :)  While they were eating their ice cream, I did a little mapping to get us back "home". 

We jumped on 90 to slab the 20 miles to Wall and then took 240 to Sage Rim Road to the campground.  I picked up an Annual National Park Pass since the entrance station was closed when we arrived last night and we slowly made our way back to the camper by 5pm. 

We pulled our lawn chairs out and lined ourselves up along our trailer which was providing some much appreciated shade.  We kicked off our shoes and socks and passed around some snacks while chillin' and looking at the view surrounding us.  We eventually got up and made dinner and then Shele and I went for a brief walk around the campground to burn off some of those "snack calories".  The evening's entertainment came in the form of two thunderstorms off in the distance that put on quite an impressive light show. 

We all sat and watched the skies light up with jagged, intense bolts of lightning and then finally turned in for the night.  I showered and made it to bed by 9:30.  Wooohooo!  I think we're all very much looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and having a nice, wide open and as yet to be determined schedule.