Day 2

When we arrived in the Badlands at 2:30 am, it was pitch black, we parked the car at the first parking area inside the park and went to sleep for a few hours.  No curtains to block the first morning light so there was no chance of sleeping in.  I'm glad we woke up when we did...

This was our first view of the Badlands...AMAZING!!!

 Lots of pictures of the eerie, moonlike landscape but seeing this one tree framed by the rocks seemed to be the perfect "one" picture of the Badlands.

Lia, our little nature explorer, kept wanting to hike off of any trail we tried to stay on.  One of these "excursions" netted her this beautiful feather.  As much as she wanted to keep it, she did the right thing and put it back where she found it.

Lia was all over the hiking and climbing on any rocks she could.  Here she is at the top of one of the cliffs...this girls has no fear!

Mom and daughter in a little cavern...I'm a lucky guy!!!

 After hiking all over the Badlands, we headed to Deadwood to relax and enjoy the town.  Here I am in my acting debut...I played the bartender in this telling of the story of the assassination of Wild Bill Hickok.

Bikes, bikes, and more bikes...yes we went to the Black Hills are at the start of the 71st annual Sturgis rally!  Nothing too crazy but seeing all the bikes EVERYWHERE really added to our experience.

This was our "home away from home" for our first two nights...we slept in a teepee!!!  What a great experience!

Up next is another day traveling the Black Hills area (and another night in the teepee!)...

Day 1

The plan was to drive through the night so that we could be in the Badlands early on Friday morning.  Sioux Falls seemed to be a good place to stop and spend a few hours to break up the long drive.  We were told by many that if we stop in Sioux Falls then Falls Park is a "must see" place to visit...after viewing the falls, I have to agree!

 Lia just loved climbing all over the rocks, this is my favorite picture of her at the falls.

This may not have been the rushing falls that we saw at most places but this small section of the falls was my favorite part. 

We left Sioux Falls at 10:30pm and the plan was to drive all the way to the badlands and then catch a few zzzzz's in the car before sunrise.  Little did we know what was in store for us.

SPAM!

How can we pass up a stop at the iconic SPAM museum!  This place was actually very fun...lots of laughs.  Diane and Lia tried the bacon flavored SPAM, Diane says..."MMMMM mushy!"