Day 9- Badlands National Park

This place is simply gorgeous!  Today was an "orange flag" day in the Badlands.  That is a warning to hikers that with the heat index things will get up to about 105 degrees.  It has been hot (unbelievably hot) for the past week.  One of the best things we have brought with us is our tent fan.  It is just what we need at the end of the day and it provides a bit of "white noise" so we can sleep.

The male- grazing at his own pace.

We set out this morning by going to the Ranger Station at the entrance of the Badlands.  Both boys took part in the Ranger talk and earned their badge.  The talk was really interesting and gave us some good info before we headed out exploring!  We learned that the male buffalo likes to stay away from the herd by himself.  The females stay with the herd taking care of the kids.  When Douglas asked Len why the male stays by himself this was Len's response.  Well, you see Douglas, the male just can't take it.  He can't take all the shenanigans that go along with the group.  He just wants to relax and graze at his own pace. Nice...real profound.

Badlands National Park, July 1,2012

We drove through the twisting and turning roads of the Badlands and along a dirt round called Creek Rim Pass.  This is where Prairie Dog Village and the buffalo roam.  Everywhere we looked the scenery was breathtaking! The long drive ended in Wall, SD.  We found a grocery store to stock up on waters and get things for dinner. I know I shouldn't have been, but I was shocked to find there was no chicken available at the grocery store!  So we settled on big, fat juicy steaks.  When in Rome...right?!

Badlands National Park

After the store we headed back to the campground to escape the heat.  We all swam for about two hours.  We also did two loads of laundry to restock up on clean clothes. After dinner we headed out for some sunset hikes but ended up turning around when we saw a huge storm coming.  We closed up the tent and got things under cover and headed out again.  Unfortunately we missed any photo ops but we still had an amazing experience.  The four of us had the windows peak all to ourselves.  We did a very small climb up the butte to look out "the window"- such a special family moment! We'll go back in the morning for more photos.  Although, the photos do not do this place justice!  Tomorrow we head to Rapid City, SD and to see Rushmore!