The Badlands and staying healthy

As we travel we do the occasional post on Facebook, and I’m sure some of you are saying enough already, but then we hear from others who would like more FB posts…. Go figure. What we usually post is the typical; we are here and maybe add some photos. Those of you who are reading this blog are getting all the photos you could ask for and hopefully some interesting stories to go along with them. You win! Wooo hoooo! I digress. The reason I mention this is that when we do post on FB we usually get comments from people who have been there, and how much they like it and what we shouldn’t miss. All of these comments are appreciated and we definitely take a look at them if we can. I only mention this because this trip was a first for me; Lynn had been in the badlands before. I have dreamed about making this trip. I had one planned 20 years ago but I never made it out here, so this was a big deal for me. So forgive me if our posts are numerous and maybe a little over the top. Now back to our adventures.

When we last left our travels we were at Badlands National Park soaking up the view.

 Let me backtrack a smidge. Enroute to the park we did something I have been avoiding. We stopped at a tourist attraction while pulling the trailer. Ahhhhgggg!. That wasn’t me screaming it was the other drivers on the city streets trying to get out of my way. Let me refresh your memory. My pickup truck is 22’ long pulling a 39’ trailer. Now with a 5^th wheel there is an overlap of the trailer and the bed of the truck but overall we are still 55’ long and 8’ wide. I have nightmares of turning down a street, driving 3 blocks and discover I can’t get through. So I have to back up 3 blocks. Ahhhhhgggg! That was me.

But this tourist trap was the “Corn Palace” in Mitchell SD,  which had RV parking, oh and did I mention it was under construction? Not the parking lot, The Palace. So we were not very impressed, but we did it. Another bucket list item scratched off, but at what cost…. not to us….. to all the drivers in Mitchell SD who had to deal with me driving on their downtown streets. I hope someday they can forgive me. Ok, it really wasn’t that bad; I only cut off one or two drivers that’s all. I wish I had a camera on the back of the trailer so I could see their faces. I am so bad. 

Inside auditorium Mitchell Corn Palace

When we arrived in the Badlands it was spectacular, better than I had dreamed.  The view just got better and better with every hill and turn. I am so glad that I/we finally made it. We wanted to do some hiking but Lynn was still not feeling well. So we did the driving tour so she didn't have to exert herself. 

Sign says "Beware of poisonous Snakes!" yikes!

The next day we planned on going to Wall Drug, but Lynn was getting worse and the closest clinic/hospital was in Rapid City, so off we go, and it was a good thing that we did. Lynn said the Doctor might have been old enough to have reached puberty, but he said she was right on the edge of have full blown pneumonia. So she got some antibiotics and back home we went.

The next day we took off, to give Lynn some rest and then went to Wall Drug the next day.  Lynn was such a trooper. I knew she still wasn't feeling well, but she insisted we go. It was a fun stop, had some great food, and a few laughs. It was a great day. 

Now that's a desert!

Jackalope ride!

Wall Drug had something for everyone

We took another day off, and then we did another driving tour of the park on the next day. This time however we stopped at all of the overlooks and points of interest. Towards the end of the day a storm was moving in and I was lucky enough to get a picture of a lightning strike.

Here is the lightning strike. Very cool. 

Still recovering

Yes it does rain in the badlands

The nice thing about storms is that afterwards there are rainbows. If you recall back in the U.P. we saw a double rainbow on Lake Michigan. Well the Gods must be smiling down on us because right outside our window we had another one, very cool.  This was a great way to end our visit to the Badlands. 

See you down the road.

Next stop The Black Hills.