Wild Kingdom!

Oh how amazing it is to see wild animals in their home!  We have never seen so many actual wild animals!  I felt like we were in one of the specials Fiona incessantly watches!  After "The Badlands" we headed further west to stay three nights in Custer State Park.  The landscape was etherial... meadow grass between clusters of birch and pine, ancient boulders sprinkled all around, cactus poking up and rolling hills against sharp red cliffs.  Scott planned an amazing car ride along the "Needles Highway" and "Iron Mountain Road".  What on paper is a few hours drive through Custer State Park turned into the entire day.  Why?  Because you have to stop for the bison, prairie dogs, pronghorn, deer and burros!  You can't get out of the car and approach the bison, but as you can see from the pictures, they come right onto the road!  Then it was onto "The Needles Highway".  This was the most insanely twisted, steep, and glorious drive we have yet to go on.  It offered multiple views of Mount Rushmore, which satisfied our "blah" attitude about seeing the monument.  We also had the opportunity to squeeze thru mountain passes that felt just barely wide enough to fit "Rolling Thunder"!  The geology of the place just leaves one in awe of what the earth was up to long before we came along.  We are now about to spend our second night in Wyoming.  O.K., I thought South Dakota was remote.  I truly admire those who live out here.  You MUST be pretty self sufficient to make a go of it.  Tomorrow we head to Yellowstone.  We plan on taking a three mile hike around "Old Faithful" and the other lesser know geysers.  We have read the warnings to stay on the boardwalk paths due to the higher than boiling temperature waters just under a thin crust layer.  Super bummer if you fall tomorrow...  The view out my window right now looks artificial!  Rocky cliffs with bare hills at their base and HUGE random rock steeples jutting out of the ground!

Storm over the edge of "The Badlands".

At our site in Custer.  The kids built forts on the hill above our camper.

We had to watch out for these buggers!

Oh, hello.

Roaming herd of bison!!!

Mommy and baby.

Definitely needed to drive carefully.

Ahhh, this looks like a nice place for a picnic.

Safe up on the bumper.  We were going to hike into the fields just before this photo.  Then we read the warnings: sudden storms, thick poison ivy and rattle snakes.  Hmmmm...  we looked over our shoulders to see some large grey clouds...went a few more steps and,"YIKES!"  Someone ahead of us had stoned a rattlesnake to death right in the hiking trail!  Scott nearly stepped on it!  Game over.

Pronghorn.

Very pushy, begging burros!  They know to stop traffic and get treats!

The kids trying to coax a prairie dog from its hole with burros in background.

Donkey love...

I scratch your shoulder, you scratch mine.

This baby was adorable!

Mount Rushmore.  Yup.  That's it.

This hat allowed Scott to get right into a herd of bison undetected.

I just had to capture this "great hair moment"...forever.  (That's Scott's hair, not mine.)

Looks like a pretty big cat was ahead of us on this hike.

Hey there marmot!

Sylvan Lake, SD.

Wyoming.

Here's where we're at now.  Pretty western huh?

The National Eagle Center, Larks (world famous) Toy Store, Corn Palace, Bible Land and The Badlands.

What a long strange list for this editions title!  What a strange week it's been!  Who knew the Eagle Center would be so amazing?  Who knew it even existed?  I was advised by the lady at check-in at our Wabasha, MN site to head over to it.  She was also the one who suggested the toy store.  So, a site that we planned on doing a whole lot of nothing at became quite an adventure.  Minnesota left a great impression on me.  It was a very clean state.  The farms were well maintained, the fields looked perfect, the homes were adorable and the RV park we were in was immaculate!  Then we hit the road, bound for SD.  What a thoroughly different drive.  This is the state I have been waiting for.  Finally some landscapes that are totally foreign to me.  Our first night in SD was at an okay place.  Glad it was only one night...but oh, what we saw.  The Amazing, world famous CORN PALACE!  Yes, it is what it sounds like...sort of.  The town hall's facade is decorated annually with nothing but corn.  This years theme was Willie Nelson (yup, made entirely of corn).  Across the street (a very dead street) was Bible Land.  Of course we had to investigate.  I do not recommend anyone else every doing this.  It was dark, and creepy inside.  Lots of mannequins and fake plants.  We are now at a far better campground in Wall, SD.  If curious...google "Wall Drug"  it is what the town is famous for.  But what we are loving is its proximity to "The Badlands".  We have hiked in there the past two days, and the wild landscape is something one can not possibly get used to.  We have seen prairie dogs, mountain sheep, little mouse things with long upright tails...  No bison yet, but hopefully at our next stop.  The pictures may give you a taste of this national park, but it's like the Grand Canyon...you have to stand in it to get the full effect, and it is awe inspiring.

This was the border to the Wabasha campground.

How regal?  

Fiona communing with eagle. (All captive eagles had been injured and depended on humans to survive.)

"Larks" toy store had the best cut out!

Before the carousel ride in the toy store!

All animals are hand carved.

As far as the eye can see!!!!! I love this!

Sunflower seeds are a big crop here in SD.  The fields are amazing.

Many of these along the drive.

All the decor behind us is corn!  

Playground?  Did someone say playground?

Ummm...I'll pass.

Make new friends, and keep the old.

These signs were plentiful in "The Badlands".  YIKES!

Sharp edged cliffs.

Close up of the harder stone.  Some parts of the hike were like walking on kitty litter...

Like we landed on Mars.

This is my kind of road.

We were so thrilled to see wildlife!

These guys were way up high!

Fiona is getting some close up shots of the prairie dogs.  See them?  All those holes?

Whose idea was it to hike at noon, in a desert, in the middle of August?  Oh yeah, Dad's.

So unreal.

This guy came out of the trail to say goodbye as we were leaving.