Day 3: The Badlands (Section, South Dakota; population: 66)

We did finally hit the Badlands last night, just before dinner time, and went ahead into the park to take a short hike. Dinner could wait! After admiring a couple of miles of the impressive, yet somewhat austere, landscape of this park, we pulled off at the first opportunity for an up-close-and-personal view. The coolest thing about this little area where we stopped, or so we thought, was that we were surrounded by what looked a whole lot like sand castles on steroids (maybe 25 to 40 feet high, tops) – very very different proportions in comparison to the much higher elevations we saw throughout the drive in otherwise. Because all of these relatively diminutive structures had clearly been well-explored already, they bore well-established footholds all over them and, after a bit of time, we uncharacteristically gave the kids a little bit more free reign to explore the area. So when Steve saw John, the Hieatt child with the best curiosity and worst sense of balance of the bunch, perched between two of these little peaks and casually tossing pebbles over the side for his amusement, he called over to him to stop doing it so no one walking underneath would be hurt. When John’s response was, “No one will be over there, Daddy, because it’s too scary,” Steve quickly caught up to him. And his knees about buckled at the sight... the deepest ravine, with the sharpest edges, that he had seen since the Grand Canyon! YIKES!!!! Now we never assume that we know what lies on the other side of ANYTHING! Whew!

Our next stop was dinner in Wall, South Dakota – home of “Wall Drug” – which was a pleasant surprise notwithstanding its tourist trap-iness. The vendors surrounding Wall Drug on Main Street have clearly endeavored to maintain that town from the “Old West” feel, but it kind of works since it lacks that Main Street DisneyWorld spit & polish, piped in music and teenagers suffering heatstroke inside of character costumes. In other words, the whole scene is imperfect enough to be a little believable and the historical relevance of Wall Drug is interesting enough to make the short trip from the Badlands well worth it. And, while in Wall, we indulged the children – and, ok, let’s admit it, the adults too – by purchasing cowboy hats and a few other things at an outfitter store there. Then we geared up in those hats, and headed for the Wall Drug soda fountain for some cheap coffee, a half-dozen of their legendary doughnuts, some apple pie, and – of course – some “free ice water” (the advertisement Wall Drug placed on all of those billboards in the ‘30s that led to what it is today).

One little surprise Steve (aka Clark Griswold) had in store for us only came to our attention once we were back on the road again. The man who listens almost exclusively to U2 had purchased, and proceeded to blare from the RV speakers, his new Roy Rogers and Dale Evans “Songs of the Old West” CD. That’s right... Home on the Range, Whoopee Ti Yi Yo Get Along Little Doggies, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, and the Streets of Laredo... just to name a few. And he sings along. God help us. But, on the bright side, none of us can deny that the cowboy music genre suits his voice much better than his singing of the Beach Boys “Kokomo” every time we pass through Kokomo, Indiana on our trips up to Notre Dame...

We woke up to a beautiful morning this morning, and everyone was pumped for some real hiking today. So after a brief stop at the ranger station, where the kids participated in a 30-minute hands-on class to earn their Junior Ranger badges and patches, we took off for a trail described as “Moderate” for a 30 minute hike in the Badlands. The “Beware of Rattlesnakes” sign did take us aback for a moment, but we continued down the boardwalk sidewalks of this well-groomed path, taking in the view (including many more of those signs) and searching for wildlife. We saw evidence of that wildlife – a deer skeleton just a few feet from the rest of its fur and, well, some droppings of various shapes and sizes – but, alas, no wildlife on that trail. And we wanted more of a challenge!


And a challenge, we found, at the very next stop! The only place to go above “Moderate” is to a trail marked “Strenuous,” but we decided that we were ready. It was awesome! Completely crazy, but awesome! We climbed uphill the whole way, sometimes on all fours, steadying ourselves on rocks and each other, until we made it to the top. Once there, it was the strangest thing. We weren’t on the top of a mountain, with something to descend on the other side; we had merely climbed up a very steep incline to a prairie on the next level. But, it was only lunch at this point, so there was much more excitement to come...

We went on to Custer State Park, which has been fantastic. More about that in tomorrow’s blog... I'm just moments away from my “Day 4” so it's time for bed. Katie’s 12th birthday is tomorrow!!!