Wed 1.2.2008 - PM

Today was a wonderful day. It is probably one of those days I’ll remember long into my old age. I have a ton of pictures yet to sort through. I’m only going to attach a few to the blog. Once I get settled, I’ll set up a public album for those of you who might actually be interested in seeing more pictures. Ok, on to the day.

My first stop was at the world renown Wall Drug in Wall, SD. Sometime before I was born, a long time ago, the owners of Wall Drug were barely making ends meet, so they decided to entice shoppers into their store with free ice water. They started with a few road signs and expanded as more shoppers began to stop in at the store. The rest, as they say, is history or in this case a unabashed tourist trap. Anyway the only picture I really took was this one which made me feel so much better about how I looked on this bitter cold morning.

From Wall Drug I was off to the Badlands. This was the part of the trip I had looked forward to since beginning to plan. It was everything I expected and much, much more. I went a little camera happy so here are just a few of the pictures. I can’t think of the adequate words to describe this vast, desolate, immense landscape. Oh, look I did come up with a few. Anyway the pictures are better.

In the park I ran across a herd of deer and got out my binoculars to take a look. They looked much like the White Tail Deer I'm used to. At the Visitor Center I learned that they are called Mule Deer. Later, I encountered another herd and I decided to take a closer look. I soon discovered that they were not deer, but antelope.

Across from the antelope was a pull out, so I pulled off and took a few pictures. On the way back I decided to avoid the slippery ice covered boardwalk and opted for the unpacked snow. As I walked I caught something in the corner of my eye move and I jumped, only to realize that this cute little jack rabbit was what scared me. I must have been about a yard away from him. The little guy let me take a few pictures and then scampered under the boardwalk.

From the Badlands, I headed to Mt. Rushmore. The nice park ranger told me it was about 2 hours away and she was about right. However her timetable reminded me how unaware of time I’ve been lately. I’m not acclimated to the right time zone and since I abandoned my watch 3 days ago I’ve been fairly oblivious to time in general. It is not often that I let myself live outside the confines of a fairly strict schedule. Once I adjusted to the lack of structure, I actually enjoyed it. Anyway, back to the story . . . .

Mount Rushmore was rather anticlimactic for me. It has been on my “Life List” for a while, so I was looking forward to it, but not as much as the Badlands. Turns out, you show up take a few pictures and you are pretty much done with the whole thing. It’s nice, but nothing great. Remember though, I’m a girl who is much more impressed with the nature that God creates than anything man has ever put together. I am glad I visited though, because now I can mark it off my list.

Realizing it was still fairly early in the day, I asked the park ranger how close I was to Custer State Park. I’d heard there were buffalo in the park and thought this might be a cool unplanned diversion for the remainder of my day. He told me I was only 30 minutes away, but the 2 of the 3 roads into the park were closed. He gave me some great directions and I made my way to the park.

Once in the park I saw another herd of deer and pulled over. When I did, I noticed this cute little prairie dog pop his head out of his hole. I snapped a picture and got out to try and take some more pictures, but he and all his buddies went hiding into their holes. I decided to take a strool into the middle of their little prairie dog town. I couldn’t see any of them, but I could hear them barking to each other. Actually it sounded more like chirping, kind of like a squirrel chirp. Anyway I stood there for a while and just listened.

From there I was out to find what I came to see, buffalo. I drove for a few more miles before I looked over the edge of the hill I was driving on and saw a huge herd of them. I meandered my way down the hill. (Well, maybe it was more of a rapid but safe progression than a meander). The buffalo must be fairly used to the cars because several of them stood in the road and only moved slowly to avoid me. I think the were attracted to the salt & snow mixtures that had fallen from the passing vehicles and the just stood there licking the road. The sounds in this video are all the buffalo. They are noisy eaters.

After the buffalo, I'd had my fill for the day. I had seen all I’d come to see and was ready to head to the hotel. I headed for the park exit, only to be met a few miles down the road by this group of mules. Someone obviously feeds these guys from the car, because I could only get pictures of their faces as they attempted to lick their way into my car.

I’ve had this song in my head since seeing the antelope this morning. Come on sing along with me. . .

O give me a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play.
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day.

I’m not sure the location that inspired this song, but I think I must have found it. As for the “seldom is heard a discouraging word” part, I think that’s due to the fact that there is no body to speak them. I encounter all of 4 cars in my traverse of the Badlands. I did see 3 or 4 families at Mt. Rushmore and maybe 4 other cars in Custer State Park. I know it is off season, but I’m glad I came during a time I could enjoy the land for myself. I found myself at times thinking God did all of this creating just for me today. I don't mean that in a selfish way at all. It's just that there weren't that many people driving around and the part of creation I witnessed was amazing.

MILES DRIVEN: 217.2 today (2311.7 total)

STATES COVERED: I was only touring today. No new states.

FAVORITE THING: I’d have to say the jack rabbit, after that the buffalo and the Badlands landscape.