Saturday, July 5, 2014

Days 7 & 8
July 3 & 4

July 3 -- 7 1/2  hour drive from Sioux City, Nebraska to Interior, South Dakota.

Bug-splattered photo from inside the car. 

We saw lots of farmland, corn, silos, and cows. The ride was actually very pretty.



First movie of the trip on Day 8 in the car. Pretty good:)


We stopped after about 2 1/2 hours at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park.

I think Dave enjoyed this more than the boys. He even bought a t-shirt. It was amazing to see all of the fossils all together in one place just hidden below the surface.
To find out more about this fossil-filled place, here is the link:

We arrived in the Badlands and I was not happy about our MOTEL. It smelled strange and Ian actually found a fishing hook in the bed. Sweet Dave looked online for any other rooms in the area but it was July 4th weekend, so I put on my big-cowgirl panties and dealt with it. 


The Badlands Budget Host Motel and Campground - 1*- Do not stay here.

Here is the very rustic, local place we ate lunch in Interior, South Dakota.

Our first look at the Badlands. Yellow wildflowers covered the hills and valleys.

Day 8 - Happy 4th of July!
BADLANDS, South Dakota


We woke up early so it would be cooler. The weather forecast called for 90 degree weather. The sun rising made for beautiful photos.


The Notch Trail- notice the clouds? We actually got drenched in about two minutes from raindrops the size of gumballs. The rain actually hurt. We started to freak out a bit because this rock/clay/ash gets very slippery when wet and this hike was a little treacherous in parts. This ladder was okay going up but scared me to death (legs shaking) on the way down.

Dave's shirt is wet from the rain not sweat.

Ahhh!!! We finished and we lived!

The Badlands were hot and desolate but in many ways had beauty all around.

Never saw one!

Saddle Creek Pass- very steep, but beautiful views of the prairie. We thought we heard the rattle of a rattlesnake in the tall grass.




The Window Trail - great views of the Badlands that just seemed to go on forever.

Look at me, Mom!



Yellow mounds, just one of the many colorful layers of rock that make up the Badlands.


We drove out on a dirt road hoping to see bison (buffalo). We were encouraged by this sign.

Even more encouraged. We had evidence.


We saw one! See that little dot on the far right corner. That is a HUGE buffalo! We only saw two very far away.

Wall Drug-- You know we had to go there. 

A local rodeo was in Interior. One thing that we found so mind-boggling, because we were sweating to death, was the amount of people wearing long-sleeve shirts and jeans in 95 degree weather. 
Man, cowboys are tough. 


Sorry for the late posting. Surprisingly, there was very bad wifi in Interior, South Dakota. We are in Rapid City, South Dakota in the Black Hills today, July 5th --Day 9.

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