Day 23: South Dakota Adventures

The day began with a relatively short drive from Gillette, WY, through the Black Hills National Forest, to Mount Rushmore.  Our national parks pass didn’t grant us admission to Mount Rushmore, but we decided we were willing to fork up the $11 parking fee.  The stop began with a walk down the boulevard of state flags.  We each got pictures in front of our home state and argued over which state is the best.  The next stop was the information center, where we watched a movie on the making of Mount Rushmore and filled out our Junior Park Ranger packets. The Captain, Ocho, and LT2 are now proud Rushmore Park Rangers! 

As we were leaving, we decided to snap a few pics with four of the sexiest men that ever lived!  Dibs on Washington, wooden teeth are hawt!  A kind, old tourist was willing to take our picture in front of the mountain.  Whiskers was Lincoln (very fitting, given the facial hair), LT2 was good ol’ TR (very fitting, given the Army background), Ocho was Jefferson (very fitting, given the wig), and The Captain was Washington (very fitting, given his tendency to chop down cherry trees).

After the pics were taken we contemplated going on a hike, but decided to wait until The Badlands.  We grabbed some buffalo chili and a buffalo burger for lunch instead (no wonder buffalo almost went extinct).  Stomachs full, we headed back to the car.  Just as we piled in, the rain started to fall.  Good thing we didn’t go on that hike!

We have frequently found ourselves asking why we allow the Ocho to drive.  It seems that every time she is behind the wheel the sky turns dark.   A deafening hailstorm hit during the drive from Rushmore to the Badlands, but we prevailed thanks to the Ocho's growing experience in dire weather conditions.

When we got to The Badlands info center it was still raining a bit so we decided to wait out the storm by earning our second Junior Ranger badges of the day.  The Captain, Ocho, and LT2 worked tediously on their packets to earn the title of Badlands Junior Park Ranger.  To our dismay, the Park Ranger that gave us our badges was less than enthusiastic about it.  She didn’t check our work and didn’t even make us take the oath...clearly someone doesn’t take this responsibility as seriously as we do.

Badges acquired, we used our ranger knowledge to check the weather report.  It appeared that the storm was passing and we would be good to hike and camp for the night.  With clear skies above us, we hit the road again to drive through The Badlands and take in the sights.

In no time we were taking full advantage of the fact that you are allowed to adventure anywhere within the park, paths be damned!  At the first pull-off LT2 was soon scaling the tallest dirt peak she could find with the best of the twelve-year old boys.

The rest of us took to more manageable peaks and photographed LT2 so there would be evidence for the doctors to diagnose her injuries after the fall.  Shoes covered in mud (or entire body if you were LT2) we piled back into the Silver Swede and headed for the next sight.

At the following pull-off LT2 surpassed her previous achievements by climbing even more impossibly steep cliffs.  Whiskers disappeared for awhile to become one with nature.  As the rest of the amigos began to fret that we'd lost him, he was eventually located in a canyon, having returned from following some ram tracks for awhile.

Back in the car we headed for the Roberts Prairie Dog Town.  After turning off on a dirt road that only ended up being 5x the length LT2 estimated, we arrived.  As promised, the dawgs were out in force, certainly not the shy type.  Whiskers spent a good amount of time photographing them (which came as a surprise to no one), while LT2 spent a good amount of time photographing Whiskers.

Spent from our long day of travels, we retired to the campground, set up base, and enjoyed a nice tuna, beer, and whiskey dinner before hitting the hay with plans to awake for sunrise early in the morning.