Revenge of the Prairie Dogs

July 1

We started day 3 off fresh & clean with showers! After dousing ourselves with bug spray the night before, clean skin was a welcome change. We packed up, and set off.

Our campsite in MN was very near the border of SD, so we were expecting to see the "Welcome to South Dakota" sign within the first 30 minutes of our trip, but we never did! It is unclear whether the sign was nonexistent or we just didn't see it, but even though there is no picture evidence, believe us, we were in South Dakota today.

Notable occurrences from the drive through SD today:

• We were all surprised at the amount of road construction!
• We saw our first bison today. B spazzed out.
• K lost every single Rock Paper Scissor game she played today, so her only chance in the front was when she was driving. We coined the term "backseat crazies" around hour two of her stint in the backseat.
• We visited the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD at the suggestion of a friend of K's. Can you believe that it is the world's only corn palace?! (We can too.) We learned there that South Dakota is one of three states that lets you shoot the state bird. Lucky you New York Bluebird!
• B took about a million pictures of hay bales. Not exaggerating a bit on that one. We'll spare you the photos.
• We passed by a very long tractor trailer with a long white thing on it. We eventually realized that it was the blade of a wind turbine! A little later on, we saw a second blade pass by and then the third.
• The landscape made another dramatic change. On the western side of the Missouri River there were flat, long-grass prairies. (Where do people in SD get their Christmas trees? We would like to know.) After the Missouri River, the landscape changed to rolling hills then flattened again. C "sensed" that she was on higher ground, and concluded that we were on a plateau. K thought that the driver's side seat was just raised higher from the passenger seat, where C had previously been sitting. B just thought they were both crazy.
• We entered our third time zone of the trip! We are now in mountain time (or Rocky Mountain time as K calls it), so please don't try to call us before 10am EST.
• We saw a metal dinosaur skeleton, standing upright, on a leash, led by a metal human skeleton.
• K discovered a new love for prairie dogs. We stopped at a "prairie dog zoo," and bought peanuts to feed them. Turns out, prairie dogs don't love K as much as she loves them, and when she took a step too close to one, it shrieked at her. She then shrieked as well (in fear, not delight), and backed off.

After a much shorter drive today, we arrived at our destination: Badlands National Park. These huge rock formations have been carved into thousands of striped pyramids and peaks over millions of years. It is an incredible sight, one that cannot be sufficiently described by any words. We set up camp, and took off for a hike. A "beware of rattlesnakes" sign at the trailhead put K on edge and caused her to mumble old camp songs for the duration of the hike.

We decided to follow the "Medicine Root Loop Trail," which on the park guide map appeared to be about a mile and a half long. The sun was hot, despite being later in the day, and we needed to reapply sunscreen several times. After walking for what seemed like hours, we concluded that the trail was much longer than 1.5 miles. Or, as B put it, "This map is clearly inaccurate." Thankfully, some clouds were starting to cover the sun, so we had a break from some of its rays. Once we finally got to the end of the trail, we saw on a sign that the trail was actually 4 miles long! So much for that map's mileage marker!

Hot and tired from the hike, we had PB&J and drank lots of water for dinner. We watched the sunset over the Badland's rocks, and even saw some lightning in the distance! None of us can believe that we've only been on the trip for three days. We've already seen and done so much that the days and states are blurring together.

Mileage to date: 1,759

States visited: Minnesota, South Dakota

Yellow car count:

C - 43

B - 46

K - 38

High and Lows:

Group high - watching the sunset

Group low - not being prepared for the sudden heat and sun

C high - 1) reenacting Lion King on top of the Badlands rock and 2) watching K freak when the prairie dog screamed at her

C low - bugs

B high - landscape changes

B low - missing the South Dakota "welcome" sign

K high - seeing all the prairie dog!

K low - the prairie dogs not liking me.