Jake and I are starting a new band…

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Just kidding!

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Doesn’t the name of this post sound like a 90’s revival cover band? 😉

This is the final excerpt from Operation Land Grab 2017, if you forgot where we last left off, it was the most stunning solar eclipse event and a long trudge back to Colorado. Our trip was short and sweet, only 4 days and then we’re back on the road again. You’d think that by now, we’d be used to it. Yet somehow there is always feelings of anxiety, excitement and exhaustion waging war within.

Our ultimate destination is Chicago for a short while and then back to Bosco boat for the winter. However we weren’t exactly in a hurry and thought we would continue our exploration of the countryside, including South Dakota and Minnesota. There are several National Parks in SD and we have friends in MN that we thought we’d visit as well.

We left Colorado after breakfast on a sunny Saturday morning. The roads were fairly clear (especially compared to last week) and it was a relatively short drive of 6 hours to Horse Thief Campground. Its exciting heading to a state that we’ve never really been to, and only passed through once 15 years ago. The drive was lovely as we passed rolling hills and desolate, expansive landscapes.

We pulled into camp early afternoon. It was very luxurious compared to much of our previous camping experiences this summer. It was huge, spread out and had a lot of really nice facilities. The bathroom was insane. Marble floors and counters and beautiful walk-in showers. It definitely seemed too nice for camping. It even has a laundry room!

It felt great to walk around after sitting all day and the weather was perfect; not too hot, not too cold. After getting ourselves settled, there wasn’t much to do so we figured that an early dinner would fulfill entertainment and satiate the rumble in our bellies. We still have tons of food leftover from our stop in CO, and a lot of it is fresh, so Jake whipped up a fancy salad with grilled veggies. I know it sounds pretty boring, but it was super tasty and we managed to clear out half the cooler space (which it needed).

There was still too much time left in the day and we are out of the camping groove, so it took some time to just get ourselves to sit and relax. Thankfully I had a book that needed finishing. Its weird that we can sit out here so comfortably and I realized that this is the first camping experience we have had (in a LONG time) where there were no bugs, no glaring sun and no loud distractions. It was perfectly comfortable. WEIRD!

That night we had perfectly comfortable temps and though the car was at a slant, we managed to get a pretty decent night’s sleep. The next day we got up early to make an easy camp meal breakfast before packing our stuff. We wanted to go see Mt. Rushmore before it gets crowded. It was only a 20 minute drive from the campground and when we pulled into the parking lot, it was totally empty. I was kind of shocked and we assumed that we were in the wrong spot OR that it wasn’t open. We were wrong on both accounts and just happened to be the first people to arrive, other than employees and security. COOL!!!

Mount Rushmore is seated within the long chain of mountains called Black Hills. There is tons of rock climbing and from what we could see, it looked amazing. The best features were closed off, which made sense as we pulled around a bend and saw the 4 iconic faces on the other side.

Each carving of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and George Washington was pretty darn impressive. From afar, they looked rather small, but upon closer inspection they were pretty magnificent. There are several walking paths that wind through a lovely little forest allowing better views of the monument from various angles. We stopped to read all the little placards but found that they were not very informative. I think the fact that Jake’s been reading Undaunted Courage (a gift from our friend in Montana), which follows Jefferson and Washington’s life, is part of the problem. The book certainly gives us more information than the monument.

It was super cool to see this National Monument and it only took us about an hour to walk through everything. As we made our way out of the gift shop, the crowds were starting to pick up, so we really couldn’t have planned this better. It was still early in the day and this works well because we had another destination in mind; Badlands National Park. We’re so close it would be a shame to skip this and who knows if we’ll come back?

On the road again the drive was actually really lovely. I’m surprised by South Dakota’s beauty. We spotted a billboard with an advert for Wall Drug and then another and another. It kept going like this every few miles. Apparently Wall Drug is a big thing out here and so we thought, why not…lets give it a go!

Wall Drug is a tourist attraction in Wall (go figure), SD. We are literally in the middle of nowhere and this place is massive. Its got restaurants, shopping, random touristy things like dioramas and dinosaurs. This is so crazy and kitschy yet super fun. We only walked around for a short bit before hitting the pavement again.

Badlands National Park was only a short way ahead and we knew we were near as the terrain made an interesting change. It was like the earth was made out of clay and there were beautiful colored stripes rent across the alternating mounds that shot up (or down). The landscape was something out of this world. I’ve never seen anything like it.

This was my first experience with “Badlands”, though they were frequently visited throughout Southwest Photo Safari. But that hasn’t happened yet (Its like we’re living Back to the Future on this blog).

For those who don’t know, Badlands are a type of terrain formed by erosion of certain types of rock and clay soil. They look a lot like sand dunes with intricate folds and beautiful stripes of colors ranging from black and blue coal stria to bright clay and red scoria. And they can be found scattered throughout the country including Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming, California, Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, to name a few.

Badlands National Park protects almost 400 square miles of these sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles as well as the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie. Ever seen the movie, Dances with Wolves or Tremors? Both were filmed in the area.

The first stop was the welcome center, a very modest exhibit with information and a short video. I was surprised by how lush and full of wildlife this area is, as it seems barren to the naked eye. But there are heaps of beautiful native plants and animals that make their permanent homes here.

The Badlands have been eroding since the earth was born, at one point they were under the ocean where mammoth alligators and squid lived. Dinosaurs came and went along with the water levels exposing the rock underneath, which eroded over time into what we see today. And sure enough, as time continues, these features will disappear and evolve into something else.

We are always fascinated by this idea of long-term evolution. No matter what happens on the planet, it finds a way to continue to survive and evolve with whatever circumstances it faces. This is a comforting idea, don’t you think?

After learning some history, we got back in Old Blue and continued our exploration by car. The park is huge and it was getting pretty hot out here, so we were glad that we didn’t have to go far by foot to see everything. We did pull over a lot so that I could take photos. We did stop at one point to hike and play around on one particular feature that was open to the public. If it wasn’t so hot we might have gone a bit further.

The day was fun but both of us were tired and extremely hot. Other than breakfast, we haven’t had any food so energy was low, which didn’t help. That said, we planned to only stay here for a day and wanted to see it all.

Jake insisted that we go to the nearby Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. Its perfect because its mostly indoors (with air conditioning!)

The Minuteman site was established to illustrate the history and significance of the Cold War, the arms race, and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development. It preserves the last remaining Minuteman II ICBM system in this country. The visitor center was pretty cool, with tons of things to see and learn. We saw the launch control center and learned about the construction of and locations of various nuclear missiles that are STILL in the area!

There was one in particular not too far from here, so we thought we’d go check it out. The missile silo was extremely well-hidden, in fact you wouldn’t even know it was there if you drove past. Completely nondescript with a small chain fence around a small-looking building. We pulled in to a dirt patch and parked next to the 3 other cars. Our hope was to go on a tour of the silo, though we learned that you needed to have reservations WAY in advance (like weeks!). So much for that.

We spotted a few signs indicating there are some missiles that were retired and left for visitors to see, so we made our way back to those. How freaky to think that there are nuclear missiles buried right under us, cleverly hidden. Yikes.

Back in the car, I grabbed the Atlas to see what our options are. In the process of pulling open the large book, it accidentally flung our National Park pass somewhere in the back. It all happened so fast, though, I couldn’t be sure. Jake wasn’t paying attention and didn’t see where it landed. Thankfully no doors or windows were open but we stopped and scoured the car as best we could. The pass completely vanished. Its so crazy, but without it we can’t go to anymore National Parks. So that mystery is still TBD.

It was after 3PM now and we were both feeling pangs of exhaustion. We are left with the option of going back toward the Badlands, which is an hour back the other direction, to camp for the night. Or we can keep going east, toward Minnesota.

We have a few friends that live in MN and we planned to visit them before heading back to Bosco boat. Initially we were going to wait a few more days to visit, but both of us are eager to get this journey over with and get our lives settled again. The decision pretty much made itself and so we decided to keep heading east. Its too far to go all the way to Battle Lake today, so we would find a free camping spot for the night.

With an hour before sunset, we came to our free camping area near Chamberlain, South Dakota. It sits on the Missouri river and is actually pretty nice, all things considered. There are no bathrooms, but plenty of trees and tall grasses to do one’s business. We parked Old Blue in a flattest spot we could find and proceeded to setup camp. Since we are not planning to stay long, we didn’t bother with our sun shade, and only pulled out the bare minimum; camp table, chairs and stove for cooking. Jake got to work making us a yummy dinner of tempura chicken and broccoli with rice while I kept the giant flies and mozzies at bay. Oh the joys of camping!

In all it wasn’t a bad spot. We were close to the highway which meant it was loud and there were a few scattered people about, though they seemed a bit sketchy. However it was better than an average free camping spot and despite the discomfort, we managed to get decent rest.

By morning we were both completely over camping, which is good because from here on out, we shouldn’t have to do any more of it for awhile. Maybe the rest of the year!

We stopped at a rest area where a HUGE statue of Sakajawea stood and was quite lovely. I drove us 200 miles through the last bit of South Dakota. Then Jake took over after we got some Jimmy Johns for a late lunch and took us all the way to our friend’s place at Battle Lake.

The last leg of the trip had us follow small country roads. It was so beautiful, I can see now why Minnesota is known for its many lakes because they are everywhere. There were butterflies and moths flying every which way, which also means that there were a lot of dead carcasses splattered on the windows. I dubbed it the Butterfly Massacre of 2017. Our van looked like a war machine splattered with bug guts.

By 2PM we were at our final destination and so so glad to be done with the drive. We spent one night and then another 2 nights in Minneapolis before heading back “home” to Bosco.

This marks the official end of Operation Land Grab 2017. We drove over 11,500 miles in 3 months, visiting 15 states and a lot of backcountry roads with varying ecosystems. We learned so much about what we want (or think we want) and met some wonderful people along the way. Was it a success? I’m not sure if we achieved the goal we set out to, but we certainly had a wonderful adventure!