Bad Lands P.S.

A few things I forgot to tell you:

First of all, the entrance to the Bad Lands National Park is in the town of Interior, SD.  Every time I saw the sign I thought to myself, "oh, how awful to live in a town called InFerior"....I mis-read it every time.  Actually we drove past the town a couple of times and it was barely big enough for a church, which is saying a lot in these here parts.  There was, however, a biker bar (with the compelling sign out front saying, "Bikers MUST stop here!!"  Nils tried to buy beer there. ( OMG, what a dive.  Let's just say, if carpets could talk, theirs would be throwing up.)   We've been seeing tons of motorcyclists on the road and at the campsites--about half of them appear to be Libertarians  (i.e. they don't wear helmets!)....we're not far from Sturges, where there's a big biker rally every year.  We talked to one woman (around our age) from Georgia who'd been traveling with two friends via motorcycle across to California, then up to the Pacific NW and back to GA again, all in 3 weeks.  Wow!  I prefer our slower pace.  We really get a chance to SEE things, also to just hang out and relax in style.

Also, I forgot to mention the prairie dogs.  There was a couple acre field in the park called "Prairie Dog Town" and although at first they were invisible, when you knew what to look for you saw them EVERYwhere.  Like the squirrels of the Bad Lands.  Cute, curious and sociable.   There was also an enormous field of sunflowers (acres and acres and acres) near the park....too early to see them in full bloom, unfortunately.  That would be a gorgeous sight.