Did you know that the Badlands National Park was formed by volanic ash deposits about 30 some odd million years ago? "Volcanic activity, probably originating in the Rocky Mountains to the west, poured vast quantities of wind-borne ash on the plains of South Dakota" (TLC).
Believe me, before today, I had no idea. I actually didn't even know what to expect when we arrived. Yesterday was a pretty, not boring but slower paced day, that I was hoping for some sort of awesomeness to make up for it on day 3. So we woke up in Sioux Falls this morning and headed west, for the Badlands. (I think we've officially arrived "West" by the way, as has been our goal thus far).
I was so excited to hit the road today I even woke up early and made a special playlist for the occassion, including The Animals, Built to Spill, Animal Collective, Iron & Wine, Andrew Bird, Led Zeppelin and other bands that start with letters in the alphabet that come before K that would allow for some serious rocking through America, haha. My music collection has grown rather large in the past six months, so perhaps tomorrow we'll include music from K-Z. Maybe.
Might I add that once we left Wisconsin yesterday, things got pretty flat. Really flat. All of Minnesota is very flat, though there were plenty of windfarms along the way, which were nice to see, but we were wondering who all that power is being sourced to? It didn't seem like there were too many people residing in rural Minnesota...
Yet, as soon as we arrived in South Dakota last night, it seems like the landscape was increasing in it's excitement factor, though we stopped after only 15 miles in Sioux Falls. We had bees and "dinner" at a place called Monk's House of Ale Repute. The beer selection was excellence, but do note the use of quotations marks around the word dinner (it was more of a snacky menu, but we weren't so hungry anyway, though the snacks were good!).
Flash forward to today: after a brief visit to the Mitchell Corn Palace, there were plenty of rolling hills to be seen and oasis-like lakes spread sporadically along the countryside, complete with corn and cows, we finally reached some remarkable landscape structures. The Badlands arose on the horizon like medieval, Gothic castles carved by the wind; they are really that spooky to see! Especially on a cloudy day... They were definitely amazing enough to give any earth science lover an increase in heartbeat!
So we drove towards and into the park, stopping along the way and taking PLENTY of pictures; maybe too many. May I add that it is really hard to take good pictures when you're zoomed in 20x in a bumpy truck at 50 mph. Apparently, Dad has the knack, but he was driving so, I did my best. Plus, there were about a zillion places to pull off the road and take pics, too.
We didn't really strategize our plan of attack, so we quickly drove through one part, then realized we had not only exited the Badlands National Park, but also were driving along a road riding parallel to them, depriving us of their mesmerizing glory. Alas, we found a dirt road that would take us directly back to the park from the south entrance, which ended up being quite the off-the-beaten-path way to travel into the park. It was SO incredible! We got to ride back into the park and up into the Badlands (which are really like bizarre little mountains) and even took the "back way" out, which took us the long way out as well. It really felt like we were the only people on the planet, on another planet, like Mars, aside from a herd of bison.
I can't remember the last time I was in a place so quiet. India wasn't even that quiet, you could always hear the highway, even at night. Here, the only thing you could hear was the wind, and it was HOWWWWWLING. I felt like I could jump into the air and fly like a kite. I tried a couple of time, but due to my weight and gravity, I crashed back to earth.
So after a few hours, we continued our journey west, and ended up in Rapid City, on the west side of SD, very close to the Black Hills National Forest, which we will be sure to check out tomorrow. After some late afternoon relaxing, we ended up at a local pub called Murphy's, which had a really lovely menu that had delicious food made with fresh ingredients and a rather extensive beer menu; it's kind of a prerequisite on this trip :) We each tried a cup of the beer cheese soup, while Dad had the shepherds pie made with lamb, and I tried the portabello sandwich with asparagus, both of which were pretty good (I took his word for it on the lamb pie). Wow, I love food. Besides seeing new things, food is my favorite part of traveling :)
I can't wait for tomorrow, for new sights, smells and tastes. Yum!
1. “History: How the Badlands Were Formed,” TLC.com, accessed on October 25, 2011, http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/badlands-national-park-ga2.htm.
Believe me, before today, I had no idea. I actually didn't even know what to expect when we arrived. Yesterday was a pretty, not boring but slower paced day, that I was hoping for some sort of awesomeness to make up for it on day 3. So we woke up in Sioux Falls this morning and headed west, for the Badlands. (I think we've officially arrived "West" by the way, as has been our goal thus far).
I was so excited to hit the road today I even woke up early and made a special playlist for the occassion, including The Animals, Built to Spill, Animal Collective, Iron & Wine, Andrew Bird, Led Zeppelin and other bands that start with letters in the alphabet that come before K that would allow for some serious rocking through America, haha. My music collection has grown rather large in the past six months, so perhaps tomorrow we'll include music from K-Z. Maybe.
Might I add that once we left Wisconsin yesterday, things got pretty flat. Really flat. All of Minnesota is very flat, though there were plenty of windfarms along the way, which were nice to see, but we were wondering who all that power is being sourced to? It didn't seem like there were too many people residing in rural Minnesota...
Yet, as soon as we arrived in South Dakota last night, it seems like the landscape was increasing in it's excitement factor, though we stopped after only 15 miles in Sioux Falls. We had bees and "dinner" at a place called Monk's House of Ale Repute. The beer selection was excellence, but do note the use of quotations marks around the word dinner (it was more of a snacky menu, but we weren't so hungry anyway, though the snacks were good!).
Flash forward to today: after a brief visit to the Mitchell Corn Palace, there were plenty of rolling hills to be seen and oasis-like lakes spread sporadically along the countryside, complete with corn and cows, we finally reached some remarkable landscape structures. The Badlands arose on the horizon like medieval, Gothic castles carved by the wind; they are really that spooky to see! Especially on a cloudy day... They were definitely amazing enough to give any earth science lover an increase in heartbeat!
So we drove towards and into the park, stopping along the way and taking PLENTY of pictures; maybe too many. May I add that it is really hard to take good pictures when you're zoomed in 20x in a bumpy truck at 50 mph. Apparently, Dad has the knack, but he was driving so, I did my best. Plus, there were about a zillion places to pull off the road and take pics, too.
We didn't really strategize our plan of attack, so we quickly drove through one part, then realized we had not only exited the Badlands National Park, but also were driving along a road riding parallel to them, depriving us of their mesmerizing glory. Alas, we found a dirt road that would take us directly back to the park from the south entrance, which ended up being quite the off-the-beaten-path way to travel into the park. It was SO incredible! We got to ride back into the park and up into the Badlands (which are really like bizarre little mountains) and even took the "back way" out, which took us the long way out as well. It really felt like we were the only people on the planet, on another planet, like Mars, aside from a herd of bison.
I can't remember the last time I was in a place so quiet. India wasn't even that quiet, you could always hear the highway, even at night. Here, the only thing you could hear was the wind, and it was HOWWWWWLING. I felt like I could jump into the air and fly like a kite. I tried a couple of time, but due to my weight and gravity, I crashed back to earth.
So after a few hours, we continued our journey west, and ended up in Rapid City, on the west side of SD, very close to the Black Hills National Forest, which we will be sure to check out tomorrow. After some late afternoon relaxing, we ended up at a local pub called Murphy's, which had a really lovely menu that had delicious food made with fresh ingredients and a rather extensive beer menu; it's kind of a prerequisite on this trip :) We each tried a cup of the beer cheese soup, while Dad had the shepherds pie made with lamb, and I tried the portabello sandwich with asparagus, both of which were pretty good (I took his word for it on the lamb pie). Wow, I love food. Besides seeing new things, food is my favorite part of traveling :)
I can't wait for tomorrow, for new sights, smells and tastes. Yum!
Touched this one up a bit.
University of Wisonconsin - Madison campus: beautiful!
I'd apply for a PhD program just to get to live here for a few years....
That'd be the Minnesota welcome sign: tricky bastard was on the other side of the freeway!
These are EVERYWHERE!
Finally!
All sorts of fake, oversized livestock in this state.
A waste of resources, lol.
Proof that we're taking this trip together.
Not just fake, oversized livestock, but also dinosaurs: very strange.
Apparently, they're a sell point for tourists?
Prairie dog.
Super Mega Ultra Agro Crag!
This was also in the area.
Approaching the Badlands from the south, on a dirt road.
View to the south.
Trying to blow away in a wind gust. Partial success!
I'm in love with the sky.
Cutie pie. More like cow pie.
"Slowly going the way of the buffalo [bison]"
1. “History: How the Badlands Were Formed,” TLC.com, accessed on October 25, 2011, http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/badlands-national-park-ga2.htm.
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