We were informed that the weather was going to be cooler today, and therefore a better day to visit the Badlands national park.
After a delayed start, we left camp at around 9:30 am and arrived at the visitor center at around 11 am. We visited the exhibit and watched a video to familiarize ourselves with the attributes of the area. The kids picked up Jr Ranger booklets and worked on them as we decided what to do next. We decided to have lunch there and then explore the park.
We visited the Window and the Door trails, the Fossil Exhibit trail, and the Pinnacles Lookout.
The kids had fun climbing on top of the different rock formations in the park.
We were able to see some less dangerous wildlife while driving around the park. We saw several horned sheep and prairie dogs.
The minute man missile site was a quick visit. We arrived at 3:45 and they close their doors at 4 pm. The employees reminded us of it at least three times during that time.
The kids got to experience watching TV on an old black and white screen when changing the channel or the volume required you to turn the know on the machine. What, no remote?
Our family stopped at Wall to check out the Pharmacy shopping area. It was just a long square of connected gift shops and restaurants.
Once you saw one, you saw them all. So after 40 minutes of wandering around, we called it good and headed back to camp.
We arrived just in time for dinner. By then it had started to get dark. It was really a late dinner but we were all so hungry that we wolfed it down with gusto. Even my younger eaters ate their full plates of food.
By the time we drove back to the cabin it was close to 10 pm and the older kids went down without a fuss. Andrew on the other hand... Well, you already know how that story goes.
