Badlands
I would say I don’t think I should be the one teaching my kids geography, but I actually am really grateful I am because I get to learn right alongside them!
The Badlands are a National Park that most people have long known about, but not me.
Nope!
Hadn’t even heard about them until Justin threw it out there as a stop on our way home from Yellowstone.
Fortunately National Geographic makes incredibly cool videos on all the national parks (I think) and I was immediately hooked.
What in the world? How did I not know about this place? It is heart stoppingly beautiful.
The drive from Custer State Park was a short one, but Justin pulled off early for some unknown-to-us reason.
Turns out, he wanted to get some ice cream from a place he’d read about - Wall Drug Store.
Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
No joke, this stop was so worth it!
Wall, SD is the closest town to the west entrance of Badlands and is an eclectic group of stores all built out of Wall Drug, which has a fun and unique history all its own.
My favorite part though was my kids reacting with glee to statues of Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and others.
Just a few days ago, they had no clue who these people were and now they do! (And so do I!)
And yes, Edley is still in her pajamas.
I swear I packed her other clothes!
Don’t judge!
We took our pictures (their requests), grabbed our ice cream and doughnuts, and headed to see the magnificent Badlands!
Not gonna lie, I was a little underwhelmed when we pulled in.
Could be that everything was brown and flat and not much of an entrance to the park.
If you’ve been to Arches or Yosemite, then you know what an entrance can look like!
But before you yell at me…Yes, I know. Each park is different and has to work with the natural landscapes it has.
This entrance was driving through a cow pasture and then there it was…more flat land.
Hmmm??? This does not look like the National Geographic video I saw…
But then we drove to our dispersed camping site and I realized I couldn’t see the Badlands really because when you’re looking out over a far distance, it just looks flat. But when you get closer, you realize the breathtaking views are seen looking down.
Not in all the park, but in this section at least.
FYI, dispersed camping is our new favorite. First in the Tetons with a breathtaking view and now here. Look at this spot that we got for FREE!!!
The Badlands is so interesting.
It reminds me of the Grand Canyon in so much as the colors and the desert environment, but it is so much more.
Justin and I stood at the rim looking out into the abyss as he excitedly explained to me that this whole park was a trail.
“It’s a ‘choose your own adventure’ kind of place!”
You could hear it in his voice how enticing that was to him. He could just walk out and go wherever he wanted to go, climb on whatever he wanted to climb, and explore to his hearts content and no one would tell him no.
Excep his wife.
His wife would tell him no.
Kind of.
I like trails.
I like safe boundaries and end points.
I like safety, not rattlesnakes and bears and crevices that can be fallen into or cliffs that can be fallen off of.
It’s one of the main ways the two of us are different.
I didn’t actually tell him no, I just said, “have fun!”
In other words, “I ain’t goin’.”
My kids on the other hand?
They’ll follow their daddy anywhere.
Well…almost anywhere.
Aubyn will go without hesitation, while the others wait to see if she safely returns and if she recommends it.
She’s like their canary in a coal mine.
If she says they should go, then they’ll go.
But back to the Badlands…
It was gorgeous.
We hiked, saw bison, climbed plateaus, dug in the sand, looked for fossils, admired the views, met new people, and just enjoyed the fleeting moments of our trip together.
It’s hard when a big trip is winding down.
You’re excited to be going home, but sad that the adventure is ending.
Did you do everything you wanted to do?
Have you appreciated the places you’ve been?
Have you taken everything you could take in in?
Will you ever be here again? Maybe never. This might be it.
And I wonder, will my kids bring their kids here one day and talk about the time their parents took them on this grand adventure across the country?
Will they remember it fondly?
Will they share funny stories and random memories? Will they laugh about the wild trail their dad took them on or the fossil cake their mom baked with them? How close will the grizzly bear be when they tell their kids about it and will they still laugh at the inside jokes they had between themselves?
Oh how I hope I am around to hear these stories some day.
On the last morning, kids still sleeping, Justin and I woke, bundled up, and watched the sun rise.
It was the windiest place we have ever been, but we sat together and thanked God for the opportunity to be there, to have an experience like this, for our family, for one another.
Not everyone has a spouse they enjoy spending time with or a family they want to be in close quarters with for long periods of time, but we do.
We are already looking forward to our next trip, but in the moment, we stayed present watching the sun come up and taking it all in. Thanking God for every minute of it.
And then we were off…heading east and heading home.
