Badlands!! 8/26/10

South Dakota Badlands! As long as we were in the area, we thought we'd take a look-see. It's stark and an out-of-the-ordinary national park, but worthy of a visit. Established as a National Monument in 1939, it was redesignated Badlands National Park in 1978.  Photos  below tell the tale on how it looks on a hot summer's day!

 

 

 

 

We picked the Cedar Lodge Campground inside the park and, consequently, had no hookups. Unfortunately, our stay coincided with a "hot spell." The temperature reached 104F. HOT.

We toured the Badlands Loop Road in Smartie and got out of the air-conditioned car at most of the info overlooks. Lots of paleontology history and fascinating geology, but it was too hot to hike or bike or in-depth explore. We returned to our RV, cranked up the generator, and blew air-conditioned air inside for several hours. Outside in the shade of a tree, I was entertained by numerous mountain bluebirds, meadowlarks, and magpies who were feasting on millions of grasshoppers. Faced with more heat the next day, we elected to leave the next morning to find cooler temps!