Farewell to the Badlands

Today we move on to Custer, SD and the Black Hills. We have really enjoyed our time here in the Badlands. The KOA here has risen slowly on our top ten list and now stands at #3. We will be sad to go but there are countless more adventures to come. The thing about this trip is that it teaches you the life skill of taking in the moment you are in - even though you are sometimes frantically planning what to do, you also become aware that you are enjoying what may be the only time in your life that you are in this place on earth, so you learn to be very aware and look around and try to remember.

Yesterday was a slower day. Mom had a headache so in the morning Steph and I took the girls back to the Badlands for another short walk. The girls again did a great job...they seem to 'get it' as much as a 5 and 3-year old can. We also took them to this ramshackle roadside attraction where they could see a family of prairie dogs. Fat prairie dogs...these things are living off of peanuts that people feed them. But we got to get pretty close and they enjoyed that.

After lunch, Steph, Dad and I went on a tour of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. Kind of odd-sounding but fascinating. If I had more time to collect my thoughts I'd attempt to describe it but for now, just click the link if you want to learn more.

Earlier in the week we had made a grocery run and I picked up some ground bison meat, with the intent of using it to make chili one night. We made that last night, using the outside gas grill slideout on the trailer. We ate late, after the babies were in bed, around a campfire. Very cool. It was the perfect evening for it - once the sun went down it cooled off to a great temperature. We had a wonderful time. As dad said, that's why we do this.

Well, gotta run. If the internet is more reliable at our next stop I will post a bunch of pics as a recap. I promise. See y'all later!

Matt