Badlands and Mt. Rushmore

It was a really fun day……

I really wanted to check out Badlands National Park. Well, I really want to check out just about everything I come across but this was near the top. And since my lovely fourth grader is in possession of the Every Kid in a Park free pass, I’m hitting as many national parks as I can manage! She’s saving us a bundle.

Do you spot the kid on the very tip?

The problem was that there was no good place to stay between Badlands and Mt. Rushmore and I wanted to check them both out. Dilemmas, dilemmas, what’s a crew to do? I decided we’d wind our way to Mt. Rushmore through the scenic Badlands Loop Road.

I checked with the owner at the RV park in South Dakota and he confirmed it was a good route to take the RV on. And just like that, our dilemma was solved. This time, we’d get to take care of two things at once.

We got lucky and ended up with a beautiful day filled with blue skies and white fluffy clouds. It was a wonderful temperature outside and the crew ended up having a blast. The kids were tickled that they could get out here and there and stretch their legs, run around and climb the cliffs. So was our furry crew member!

We hiked a small portion of a trail, went to the visitors center, completed the Junior Ranger badge (we had to mail it back to them as time was limited), climbed rocks, saw some wildlife and had a great day.

We spotted some big horn sheep, lots of prairie dogs and what I think were mule deer or elk. It was fun because those are animals we’ve never seen in the wild before. We ended up pulling into our campsite pretty late but before it got dark.

And wouldn’t you know it, on our way into the campground we saw a turkey with his feathers all spread out, super cool. Then we spotted some type of deer. A great ending to a fabulous day. I was so glad that we were able to check out Badlands. It reminded me of the Painted Desert but not as dramatic.

A video from my YouTube channel if you so choose:

https://youtu.be/AIJMarBjx7w?t=1s

Our reason for heading in this direction was Mt. Rushmore.

Mt. Rushmore National Memorial was another thing to check off the list. Who doesn’t want to see four big heads carved into stone. Well, it turns out they weren’t really carved into stone but rather blasted out to make the shapes.

While there really isn’t much else to see there other than the Avenue of Flags, it was still pretty informative. The method that was used to create the faces was interesting. It is definitely a pretty amazing accomplishment to say the least.

We had another nice sunny day to check out the monument. The place wasn’t very crowded and the town nearby supplied us with a pretty decent and cheap lunch. And the girls were able to score one more Junior Ranger badge to add to their collection.

YouTube channel video if you’re interested:

https://youtu.be/b6ji_9D_oAo?t=1s

Moving right along, I have another blog post coming up soon. Come with us as we encounter a prairie rattlesnake on our hike, yikes!

E-Book: For those who haven’t been following along, my e-book, “RV Wannabe: Learn about the RV lifestyle – Eliminate your fears – Head on down the road,” is currently available for pre-order by clicking on the link. Currently selling for $3.99 and after the release date of May 31st will go up to $4.99. It is free for Kindle Unlimited customers. 

{HUGS} from the Crew!

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