Enjoying a very peaceful, hot (right around 100F) and relatively flat and green trip through South Dakota on our way to camping in the Badlands tonight.
Noel says that the Badlands are supposed to look like Mars. We’ll see. 🙂
Meanwhile, in a move completely out of character for this risk-averse mom, we bought some fireworks as soon as we crossed into SD. We were assisted by some personable young women who seemed very excited about helping some firework-virgins from NY. You know, for Sophie’s 18th birthday and all. We don’t even know if we will be allowed set them off in the park. Hopefully we will come out unscathed from this whole experience.
Cool, just changed time zones again…
We have arrived in the Badlands, which remind me more of the Sinai than Mars, actually–this place is crazy beautiful. We are going to see fireworks in a nearby town soon.
Update: so not only did we see fireworks [and haven’t yet used our own], but we attended our first-ever rodeo, for the complete South Dakota experience. We were also lucky enough to witness a spectacular sunset over the Badlands, and then watched the fireworks with the rest of Interior, SD, pop. 390. People seem very nice and friendly here. (Not very diverse, but you can’t have everything. 😁). One young rider even let Sophie hop onto her horse for a ride!
Anyway, the temp had decreased from max of about 100F during the day to a very comfortable 76F or so in the evening, perfect for rodeo watching, fireworks, and for sleeping in tents. I think this was a pretty fantastic way to celebrate Sophie’s 18th birthday. She’s not a fan of camping, but it all turned out okay.
