The Badlands

Hello from the Badlands, South Dakota! Named by the Indians as "mako sica", which means bad land because of the peaks and valleys that are so difficult to cross. I'm not sure what the weather was like for them but it was 95 - 105 degrees here for us while we were crossing so I tend to agree with them! Still, we managed to take tons of pictures and find beauty in many places. 

We went to Ben Reifel Visitor Center and I asked the ranger what his favorite hike was. He said if you want to get away from all the people take the Castle Trail. He was right...we hiked over 4 miles in the 97 degree weather and saw only about 5 people (one of which was a woman we took back to her car because she couldn't take the heat anymore!). Good thing we were prepared and had lots of water. Super proud of Dave for making it the whole way!

We also made it to Wall Drug, which is quite the destination if you are looking for ice water, a T-Rex, a chapel, western clothes and boots, an old fashion soda fountain and of course plenty of tee-shirts and other souvenirs from China. To add to the flavor of the place it was loaded with bikers who are all here for the big rally in Sturgis.  It goes thru next weekend so I am guessing we'll be seeing more of them on this part of the trip.

 

Had an amazing sunset tonight and a great ranger talk at the amphitheater on the stars in our sky. With almost a full moon the stars weren't as bright but you could see the moon up close and Saturn thru their telescopes. The half of the moon picture was with my phone looking thru the lens of the telescope. Cool night, even if it was still 85 degrees out! Tomorrow is another travel day but not too far...

 

Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Hello from North Dakota! After driving for hours and seeing not much but farm land and hay bails, this cool metal sculpture and the fields of sunflowers were refreshing sites. So some crazy weather here made us have to change some of our plans (yup, Paladin pool people, this counts as a change!) It was 102 degrees here on Thursday so we couldn't boondock at Fluffy Fields Winery and leave the kitties in the the RV. So we found a new campground, Trapper's Kettle about 15 minutes from Medora that had hookups so the air could run for them. :)   

Medora is a fun little western town with a big musical production! Named after the wife of Marquis de Mores, another wealthy man to find enchantment in this area, like Theodore Roosevelt. On Friday it was still a hot day so we toured the town and went to the show. Then, like I mentioned the crazy weather shifted to a high of 54 degrees today and rain! So, if you are looking at these pictures wondering why we were wearing shorts one day and our boots and jackets the next you know why!

Today we drove thru the south unit of the Theodore National Park and saw the cabin he lived in as well as many of the beautiful sites throughout the park. We saw Prairie dogs, Wild horses, Elk and one Bison. The ranger at the visitor's center said there are 1500 of them in the park, but we only got to see one. I guess we should count our blessings we saw him!

Tomorrow is one of our long days of driving so I'll wrap up by letting Noodle tell you our next stop!

Thanks again for keeping us in your prayers for safe travels!

Apostle Islands

 

Well the Apostle Islands did not disappoint! I should back up by saying that yes, Dave did make it back safely to Phoebe (that's the name of the RV) and I also made it camping on my own for the night just fine. Nothing crazy to report, I'm happy to say but I know not nearly as exciting to read. :) The pictures are of our trip around the islands with Captain Sherman. He is a fourth generation Apostle Islands man and had terrific stories to tell on his tour. He had worked for 31 years on the ferry boat to Madeline Island and then "retired" to work on the tour boats. He said that he worked there for several weeks before someone told him there was a script for what to tell about the islands. He said he looked at once and threw it away, his stories were much better! I don't know what the script said but we sure enjoyed listening to him tell tall tales of his grandfather's fishing camps and who's who of the islands, all with that Minnesota accent. He'd say "well, OK, that's all for now, I'll get back 'wich all in a bit".  If you ever go to the Apostle Islands, ask for a tour with Captain Sherman!

We also took the ferry over to Madeline Island and had a great lunch at the Pub. Overall would have loved to spend more time hiking and biking but we knew the sacrifice we were making for Dave to go to Oshkosh. It was well worth it to get to spend the time with Brian and Brady. They had a blast and the airshow boasted a record attendance.

The lovely little town of Bayfield, WI.

See the Eagle in the tree? We saw several of them, including some "mates" just hanging out on the islands!

While it was a bit cloudy when we left but it turned into a beautiful day! I, of course, was fully prepared with multiple layers and raincoats just in case, not 

 

to mention the towel to dry the wet seats on the top deck! Thanks mom for that "over prepared gene"!

Dave at the Pub!

And now we are in travelin' mode, with fun boon-docking stops at the Northern Lights Casino, the Walmart Astoria (as my parents always called it) and then tomorrow at Fluffy Fields Winery.  Next stop as Pappy is looking at is Medora, ND. As always, thanks for your prayers for our safe travels! I changed the settings so you can post comments but please add your name at the bottom of the comment so we can see who's reading.