Badlands - ABSOLUTELY AMAZING

The deer up here are not nearly as fearful of people. When we pull up near them, sometimes they don't even look up to check on us.

The prairie dogs are so cute. We have come across several fields of them, and they are quite entertaining as they sit up and bark at each other.

Aren't the layers amazing?

This is the view for miles around in all directions.

Samuel says he has found the biggest tumbleweed in the world!

Love this basin. You can see a few buildings at the lower right. This is a lodge and some cabins that can be rented in the park. These were the only structures we saw in the park.

Taylor spotted this hole up in the wall.

Fortunately is was too cold for any self-respecting snake to be out.

Nathan spotted these tracks where the boys were playing.

This picture doesn't do it justice. We are laying on an overhang that drops many hundred feet into a chasm.

Samuel's cacti
There were places where the soil had dried and curled into layers. These formations seem so fragile. They are continually changing. Some things almost disolved when touched; others parts felt like rock they were so hard.

Beautiful mountain bluebird that kept flying across our path

The boys were thrilled that parts of the park had been opened up to trails and exploration.

Perfect cubby for me and my hubby to get out of the winds!

Check out the colors!

No words can even begin to describe this...

Don't let the name fool you!! This is one of our absolute favorite places in SD! The colors, the animals, the land formations - they are all spectacular displays of God's handiwork! We actually traveled through a section this year that we missed when we were here last year. We were thrilled to be able to get out and enjoy it more hands on this year. (Last year there was a fog in places and the roads were so muddy and wet we did not dare get out of the van. It had layers of mud so thick it was dripping down the sides of the van!) The boys were in heaven out running through every little boy's dream playground! The winds were blowing pretty good today though, and at times it was so cold our ears and faces hurt from the crisp air. But how amazing to have such a clear day to see out across this gorgeous landscape! We were greeted by deer, prairie dogs, pronghorn, mountain bluebirds, rabbits, and chipmunks. The boys ran free through some of the park and made us a bit nervous when they would venture to the edge of some of the formations that just dropped straight down. Taylor was convinced that he could climb down or up any of it (in crocs!) without any trouble. And Caleb had us all curious when he kept trying to get us to see a big black animal moving way out on the horizon. We kept trying to focus on this animal out there and every now and then he would excitedly yell, "There! Right there! That black thing that's moving really fast!!!" Then we spotted it... the car way across the park traveling along the road. :) He has a really good eye for though! Samuel was thrilled to find the cacti growing along portions of the badlands and was so thrilled to not be confined to the car. It was great to let them run free - within reason.

We were on our way out of the Badlands when Nathan heard something a little funny under the hood, so we stopped so he could check it out. It appears that he will be changing the compressor for the AC tomorrow on the van. He is worried that if it decides to lock up it will break the belt and leave us stranded. So he has decided to be proactive and go ahead and repair it, so we won't have to worry about that anymore. Out here you can drive for MILES without any kind of exit, service station, or house. It's nothing but open countryside, which is part of what makes it so beautiful! (We have so many pictures of the Badlands, but we tried to narrow it down a little.) We have now entered Mountain Time Zone.