When you travel full time there are a lot of good times interspersed with some really great moments as well . Of course, in our day to day life, sometimes those things start to blur together and we loose sight of the excitement of this lifestyle. Luckily, we’ve discovered that we will inevitably have an experience where that passion for adventure comes back in full force. These moments center us and remind us that we are living our dream.
This weekend we decided to visit The Badlands National Park. We have found that we enjoy visiting the National Parks during the off season to avoid the crowds and summer heat. For anyone who ever has the chance to explore The Badlands we would highly recommend going in April or early May. The temperature was delightful and there weren’t any crowds. In fact, we seldom saw more than a few people at the scenic overlooks and as we hiked several trails, we didn’t see another person at all. Additionally, while we were driving the loop road there was large sections where we were the only car around. It is a completely different experience to visit a National Park and pretty much have it to yourself to say the least.
There are a lot of unique qualities about The Badlands, but what made this trip stand out for us is that David finally got to see several full grown big horned sheep in their natural element. This may not seem like a big deal to some people, but this has been an ongoing joke that we’ve shared for almost 10 years. David has always wished to see an some big horn sheep and would spend hours looking for them at each park and drive we went on. Time after time he came up empty. That is, until, we visited The Badlands. We were driving along and I let out a big shriek and grabbed David’s arm. There they were right by the road sunning themselves on the cliffs edge. I know grabbing your husbands arm and shrieking as you travel along curvy mountain roads isn’t the best plan, but I was so gleeful that he was finally going to see them up close and personal. It is a wondrous moment when you finally get to find something you have spent 20% of your life looking for. The joy and smile on my husband‘s face made all those other years of fruitless searching all worth while. Without further ado here are David’s big horned sheep.
Despite our delight at finally seeing the Big Horned Sheep, there is so much more to see and do in the park.
The Badlands National Park was established back in 1939 as a National Monument, but did not reach park status until 1978. It is home to some of the largest collections of fossil beds, and has allowed scientists to study the evolution of numerous animals such as horses and pigs. However, what makes most people want to come out here is to see how “bad” the land really is. While visiting the Badlands and the surrounding area, it is easy to forget that South Dakota is prairie land. David and I both talked about how horrible it would have been to be traveling along and come upon this area of land. Imagine trying and take a horse and wagon through this region! After passing through all the prairies this would have stopped everyone in their tracks. Even the Native Americans called this bad land because it was so difficult to travel through. The scenes below would have struck fear in the hearts of anyone traveling out west.
There really would have been no way through this part of the country. Even on foot would have been almost impossible. However, today, the rock formations, cliffs and valleys make this park one of the most unique places we have visited. David I spent several hours in the park and we both feel it is one of the top five national parks we have visited so far.
Before I close out this post I have to share MY favorite experience on this trip. The prairie dog towns! I was afraid I wouldn’t get to see any of these guys on this trip, but I couldn’t have been more mistaken! They were everywhere! Their little towns dotted all around this area. They run and hide quickly, but just as many pop out and scamper around. There are a lot of towns right by the road you, so it is easy to spot them. However, if you venture into The Badlands there is a dirt road near the northern entrance close to Wall, SD. There is an area there called Robert’s Prairie Dog Town. One of the first things that we noticed is that there were even less people around in this area of the park. I assume that’s because the road to get to the Prairie Dog town is a dirt road. I am not sure why that bothers some people, but it seems to. However, with less people around the chances of seeing more animals increases a lot. On the drive to the prairie dog town we passed several bison, more big horned sheep (and some babies), and antelope.
As majestic and beautiful as the bison were and as excited as I was about the big horned sheep (and babies), I could not believe what waited for us at the prairie dog town. No one else was around. We parked the car and sat down on the edge of the town. Then to my astonishment and glee several of the prairie dogs came to visit us. They chirped and chattered, scolded and squeaked As they ran back and force to their dens. They were so adorable, but even so I did not attempt to touch or feed them. Instead I just enjoyed their presence was grateful for the opportunity. Honestly, I could have watched them play for hours and hours, however, eventually other people did show up and we decided to give them the same opportunity to enjoy some time without us being there. I was grateful for the 20 to 30 minutes we got to spend alone at this delightful spot in such a beautiful national park.
To close I will leave you with this advice from The Badlands (I am not sure of the author, but we found these words on a postcard from “Advice for Life by Your True Nature). Whoever wrote these words could not of summed up The Badlands any better:
“Keep a sense of adventure.
Earn your stripes.
Lean into the wind.
Find the beauty all around you.
Sometimes it’s good to be bad.”
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