Badlands

We woke up in the Hyatt Place in Sioux Falls, ready to set out for Mount Rushmore. However, we couldn't leave without breakfast, so we headed to the lobby to be pleasantly surprised. The hotel breakfast featured bacon, eggs, ham, tortillas for burritos, fruit, cereal, juices, and more.  I don't usually brag about a hotel breakfast, but this one earned a mention. 

While we ate our fill I also took advantage of the hotel laundry on our floor to wash clothes. One of the less glamorous parts of being on the road is trying to keep clean clothes on 3 kids who aren't exactly the cleanest eaters. Last night I tried 3 times to do the laundry, but the washer never seemed to be free, so I resorted to morning washing, then letting it dry while we ate. Not the most exciting start to the day, but clean clothes in the car and off we went.

Looking at the map, we realized that Badlands National Park sat along our route to Mount Rushmore. Since it's unlikely that we'll be back to South Dakota anytime soon, we decided to stop and check it out. We had no plan, no reservation, and no idea what to expect, but National Parks stamp book in hand, we turned off the highway for a detour through the park.

We arrived at the front gate, signed up for a free pass for our 4th grader (amazing program!!), and took the requisite pictures with the sign. Then we pulled to the first scenic overlook and crept up to the edge to be amazed. The otherworldly landscape greeted us as well as the scorching 103 degree heat. 

After taking some pictures we headed to the Visitor's Center where we used the bathroom, looked at some maps of the park, and found the stamps for our passport book. Troy especially enjoyed an exhibit about dinosaurs and fossils where he learned how fossils are wrapped and transported for study.

When we stepped back outside, a different world greeted us. A cool wind blew and the temperature seemed to be dropping by the minute. We reveled in the relief from the heat and set out to drive through the park. However, a wrong turn took us to a park ranger booth where they warned us about the upcoming storm as we returned to our intended path. 

I asked the kids to look up the weather and despite the argument of weather app superiority, they agreed that the news wasn't good. Seventy mile an hour wind gusts highlighting a rainstorm with lots of lightning and thunder. I looked around and noticed other cars seeming to disappear before my eyes, heading for campsites or hunkering down at the Visitor's Center. Our plan had been to drive through the park along our route to Mount Rushmore and our timeline didn't leave much room for deviation. We decided to press on and take our chances with the storm, despite me being really nervous. 

For the next two hours or so we drove, sometimes in sunshine, sometimes in blinding rain. We pulled over when the winds got too high and rocked the car or if the rain became too heavy to see through. We pulled into a variety of scenic overlooks, photo points, and parking areas. We took pictures when we could by hopping out between rain or sometimes in the rain, but when it came down too hard, we just rolled the window down and photographed rain and all. 

The girls decided to take some lightning pictures, and after a few failed attempts realized that they'd need to take before a strike. Hilarity ensued as they snapped hundreds (thousands?) of pictures at random hoping for lightning. It really lightened the mood, even if the skies remained dark. By the time we reached the other side of the park, the rain subsided and the temperature had rebounded slightly from its low of 66.

After the incredible scenic drive, it felt anticlimactic to return to the highway and the somewhat dull driving we've been doing, but thankfully the weather continued to improve. We turned our eyes ahead and planned a fun evening checking out a cool restaurant before spending the night in a tent at Mount Rushmore.

For dinner we finally located a place featured on Guy Fiere's Diners, Dine-Ins, and Drives that was still in business, open, and on our route.  We love watching the Food Network and often see the delicious features, but despite our best efforts, we rarely find a way to sample the foods ourselves. We found our way to Bokujo Ramen in Rapid City, South Dakota. It appeared to be a small, nondescript place we never would have noticed. It looked uninviting and empty from the outside, but when we opened the door we were transported into a vibrant, full ramen shop with a delicious aroma floating through the air. After a short wait for a table, we placed an order and were soon served steaming bowls of ramen. The kids, who don't eat ramen that often, navigated an unfamiliar cuisine with grace and I couldn't be more appreciative. 

After dinner we navigated a longer than expected, winding drive out to Under Canvas, a high end tent resort with a view of Mount Rushmore. We followed progressively smaller roads, eventually turning onto a gravel pathway that reminded me of wrong turns in rural Michigan. Late, dark, tired, and nervous driving felt intimidating at best. Finally we found ourselves in a gravel parking lot surrounded by tents and silence. 

We climbed from the car much like someone might emerge from a space capsule looking around, trying to get our bearings. We followed a narrow gravel path to a large tent, which thankfully turned out to be the check-in. A delightful employee greeted us, explained the property and its policies, and directed us to our tent. We got to talking and it turns out he's from Texas as well and we've played Magic at the same shops. What an odd confidence, but also a much needed taste of home. We relaxed on a pleasant patio for a while, enjoying the view of Mount Rushmore lit up at night, then played some games in the main tent before retiring for the night in our personal canvas topped room.