Through Gavin's Eyes - Badlands

Hi,this is Gavin.   And welcome to the...                         Badlands post!            

I will start with rock climbing.

Next,Wall Drug.There was a T-REX there!! Dont believe me? Well,then look at this. It is RIGHT THERE!! No need to thank me for freaking you out. Heh heh. 

Now the animals we saw while we rock climbed. Including a jackrabbit.  Are these pictures great or are they great? And dont you say neither.  The pictures are definitely great.  

And I will end this with.......                      Getting There is Half the Fun!

Day 9 - Where the Heck is Wall Drug?

We first had to go back into the Badlands to turn in the kids' Jr. Ranger Booklets at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center.

Local traffic

At the Visitor Center, we watched a short movie about people who live in and around the Badlands. I don't think that I could stand the isolation out here. I'm all for quiet and privacy, but you have to drive for miles and miles to get to your neighbor's and for an hour to get anywhere else. Gavin and Gabriella received their second Jr. Ranger Badges.

Yes, Wall Drug is a huge tourist trap. Yes, they are trying to lure you in to spend all of your money on souvenir junk. Yes, it totally worked on us and we spend a few hours there. We started in the cafe with freshly made doughnuts, then worked our way through all of the attractions for the kids.

Splash Park

Jackalope

The kids had a good time on all of the little rides and really liked the arcade shooting gallery (sorry, no pics - Don and I were shooting, too.) We also went mining for rocks and gems. Kind of.

Getting ready for our "mining experience"

The T-Rex that came to life every fifteen minutes or so to try and eat the guests. Gabriella did not think he was trustworthy at all. (Photo by Bob)

We ate a quick lunch and then did some souvenir shopping. Since it was a couple of days before our anniversary, Don told me to pick out some jewelry and that would be my gift. I found a leather-strap bracelet with silver and turquoise that I really liked. It cost a whopping $6.95. After all these years, I guess I'm still a cheap date :-) After a stop at the soda fountain on the way out, we were ready to head out.

We drove through the Badlands one last time.

Photo by Mom

On the way back to the campground, the grandparents needed to pick up some groceries. Instead of going to the "Cowboy Corner" store we had been frequenting, they visited the "real" grocery store.

Photo by Mom

When we got back, we had a little quiet time for naps (me) and building with Legos and structure blocks (younger folk.) Don and I took the kids to the pool for a nice long swim. Gabriella met a new friend named Charlie Brown. Really. It's lucky for Bella that there seems to be five-year-old girls planted at every stop that we make. Not that it really matters to her how old people are. She is an equal opportunity friender. Her family was on the way from California to a wedding in Ohio. Her dad gave me some advice about attractions in the Custer area that came in handy later on.

Don and I decided we had to have one last Indian taco before we left.

We enjoyed a quiet night watching a movie and writing postcards to Great-Grandma. Needed to rest up to drive across the state tomorrow!

Day 8 - Badlands, Part 2

After we left the Ben Reifel Visitor Center in the Badlands National Park, we all headed out to drive the Badlands Loop Road. The views are just spectacular and we stopped at a couple of overlooks along the way.

Photo by Mom

Photo by Gavin

This area reminded me of Hell in the Cayman Islands, just lighter in color

We stopped at the Yellow Mounds to look around. Which, of course, led to more climbing.

The lower layers of color represent the times when the area was under the sea, then a jungle. (Photo by Gavin)

We decided to head off the pavement and followed the dirt and gravel on Sage Creek Road. We were able to see quite a bit of wildlife up close and personal.

Prairie Dog Town - there were hundreds and hundreds of these little guys

Herd of bison

Pronghorn

We eventually made our way back to the campground for a snack. Gramma K. and I took the kids to the pool to cool off. After a little quiet time, we had dinner from the grill and Gavin and Gabriella worked on their Jr. Ranger booklets. The kids played National Park Yahtzee with Dad and Grandma P. There was just enough time to catch up on the kids' journals before bedtime. It was an incredible day!

Day 8 - Mako Sica (Badlands) - Part One

What a time I had deciding on which photos to publish for this day! We had a fabulous day filled with breathtaking scenery and wildlife. It's probably going to take me most of today uploading the pics on this slow wifi connection, so I hope you enjoy them!

I dragged everyone out of bed around 5:00 so that we could head into the Badlands and do some exploring before the heat really moved in. There may have been a bit of grumbling, but I think that everyone was glad that we started so early. The temperature was pleasant, and we had the place just about to ourselves for the first couple of hours.

We started out on the short Window Trail.

View from the parking lot

Photo by Bob

View through the "window" in the rock

Photo by Mom (yes - she's actually taking pictures, too!)

We then walked over to the trailhead for the Door Trail. But, we got distracted along the way by some rock formations that were just begging to be climbed.

Ta-Da!

Don't worry, we did go up and help her back down.

View from the top

We did finally make it to the Door Trail.

Photo by Gavin

It was gorgeous, but we weren't quite satisfied with the designated trail, so we decided to head out to scramble around on the rocks.

This is SOOO much more fun!

Gabriella with Daddy and Grandpa

Gabriella and Gramma K.

Grandma & Grandpa

Gavin & Dad

We did see a little bit of wildlife out on the rocks.

Desert Cottontail - We also saw some jackrabbits.

Western Bluebird

Cliff chipmunk - Boy, could those little guys scale the rocks!

 
Our next stop was the Ben Reifel Visitor Center where we checked out the exhibits and picked up Jr. Ranger booklets for the kids to work on. We headed out for a drive on the Badlands Loop Road. It was spectacular - I'll share the pictures in the next post as soon as I have the chance.