Day 16--This morning, a few miles after leaving our campground in Custer State Park, the landscape changed. Gone were the mountains. Instead, we headed into rolling grassland. We were on our way to Badlands National Park, the last national park we’ll be in until we get to Maine.
After seeing the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, the Badlands is somewhat monochromatic. There is some color, even though it is muted. However, the park is striking in its immensity.
The landscape visibly reflects more than 100 million years of time in a single place. Each of the colors below was created millions of years apart as the result of giant seas, lava flows, and erosion.
While the Badlands terrain is very desolate, we did, in fact, see some life. Bighorn sheep live on the grasslands that border the cliffs and valleys.
Buffalo graze on the nearby grasslands. There is the occasional bird or butterfly. Several fields are home to small prairie dogs, who generally blend in with the browns and grays of the terrain and are difficult to photograph.. However, we did find one prairie dog that was easy to photograph.
And we were very glad not to see any of these..
Today we said good-bye to the mountains. We also said good-bye to several weeks of traveling on our own. Tomorrow we arrive in Sioux Falls to spend several days with Lynn’s sister and brother-in-law and some of their children and grandchildren. This begins six weeks during which we will spend only one night alone. Otherwise, we’ll be with friends and family.
We’ve enjoyed our time together, seeing so many beautiful places. But we also look forward to special times with those we love in the days ahead.
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