The Continuing Saga of Big Cashew

Sept 16

Well, its time for another adventure in dull and so boring, root canal without anesthetic would be preferably. Yes, it another entry into the Travails of the Big Cashew.

As I noted at the end of yesterday's tomb, I was headed to the Badlands, and that is what we have today. So here we go.

The day starts with a late sleep in, not waking up until 5:23 in the morning. These late morning are so enjoyable. Well, I manage not to get back to sleep, so its out of bed, shower and dress and get breakfast, the wonderful Comfort Inn way. Powdered eggs and self made waffles. The waffles are really not that bad. So I finish my meal and head out.

First, to properly start the day, I am obliged to have my cup of tea. It must be hot, strong, sweet and a slight taste of French Vanilla. Unfortunately, when I left Wawa behind, I believe I left civilization. Finding a place that has boxes of tea to go along with the 57 varieties of coffee flavors the boast about, make looking for a needle in a haystack look easy. Then once you find a place that has tea boxes, it is just as difficult to find a box that actually has tea bags in it. After my third stop, the miracle I never thought would come, materialized. I had my tea and headed

East to the land that no one wanted.

The badlands are an anomaly. (Note the pictures). You have all this rather flat land, with the moguls I mentioned yesterday, as far as the eye can see, and then out of no where, you enter this National Park. The badlands are mountains and open prairies with a jigsaw puzzle between them. You enter the park and immediately notice a difference. The land starts to rise up and drop off. It looks like thousands of small canyons between the uprising earth. Very gray, and seemly a mixture of stone and mud. I an not really sure what is holding it together. But it is impressive none the less. I took a number of trails which give you differing perspectives. Most seem to go only up. One was like start up. It was only a quarter mile, but you climbed up the front of this escarpment. One problem was that it was very moist and muddy. You could not keep your footing as the mud caked up on your shoes. But since you were on a narrow shelf and it was straight down if you slipped too much, it was just so much fun. Somehow I was able to reach the top and then managed to get back down with minimal bodily injury.

As the day progressed, the weather slowly went from totally overcast to sunny. The temperature also changed, form mid 40's to upper 60's. But no matter where you were, the wind is constant and has always been that way. These changed allowed one to behold the natural coloring of the rocks and its many layers. The hills and the peaks became more prominent and the pictures will not due them justice, but you are left awestruck by seeing them in person. This really made the day worthwhile. But that was not the end of the trip. Midway through the drive, you encounter the first Prairie dog town. They are just yards off the road and they were in the hundreds. They pop up and out of their burrows, race around and then dive back in if you begin to move to the side of the road. But if you are slow and patient, they eventually peak out and raise up so that you have the perfect picture. They put on quite a show.

Well, we have reached the end of the road. Well, actually, it is the end of the day. I am exhausted and ready for a good rest. I know you who were reading this are already asleep so I am glad to have helped you send the day off properly. Tomorrow its Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, some scenic drives and a walk in a cave. I will try to live down to the standard I set with this one.