Badlands National Park: Scary Bison

Sage Creek Campground- Wall, SD

We are out there. No cell signal, no wifi, no TV.  Sure a facebook post uploads every once in a while, but it's spotty at best. That's why this page hasnt' been updated. I've had a lot of time in the the last 48 hours to stab away at these keys. I wanted too. I get bored very easily. Alas, technology available to the masses can't always keep up and it forces us to slow down. Turns out it was exactly what we needed.

All the worrying about the heat, our travel budget being eaten away by RV repair bills, where we will camp next, melted away after we set up camp and just looked into the horizon. There's buffalo out here roaming the hills and coyotes yipping in the distance. We unplugged, and you should too. Do yourself a favor. Find a day, a half day, hell even an hour to turn your phone off and go do something uninterrupted. In our days of constant social interaction and the media screaming about whether trump is crazy or a genius we tend to get overloaded with too much. A mental break can do wonders. I myself calmed down in an hour or two reading a motor trend magazine in a chair. Just a good reset from life. 

This journey isn't just about sitting on our ass though. Unhook Shirley and lets roll. The badlands need to be seen and we are gonna go see them. A quick whistle for the dog and we are all packed up to go look at a bunch of eroding dirt.

On the way out a herd of buffalo stand ahead of us. No big deal. Then the heard splits and runs across the road. Half on one side of the jeep, half on the other. There's a 1,500 lb bull standing 30 ft from the jeep. He's pissed. This loud grumbly snort coming from his face and he's looking right at us. You know that whole "we're at the top of the food chain" crap, he wants to prove us wrong. I roll up the windows and put Shirley in reverse, backing away from the heard and baby calves. We look at each other " What do we do now?" Katie inquires. I have no response. We are way out of our element. I see a truck on the horizon. "Let's wait and see what they do." is my response pointing towards the ball of dust coming down the hill. The truck doesn't waver. This guy is heading towards the middle of the heard at 30 mph. Bison scatter, running at full gallop to each side. I catch a glimpse of his plates as he passes by. South Dakota, this guy knows what he's doing. I look over at Katie and roll the windows up, "Hammer down". I get the typical eye roll response. Katie isn't a huge fan of my jeremy clarkson approach to driving. I believe he said " Speed. Power. Speed and Power solve many things"

Shirley chugs away at the gravel which finally turns to pavement. Sweet relief for the old battered girl. The next two hours are spent meandering through the canyons. Oh look, more old dirt hills.

The day wraps up with us sitting in chairs. A storm is on the horizon to the north. We grab our hiking shoes. Another quick whistle, the dog is part of the pack. Upward bound toward the clouds. A hill about four stories tall will offer us a better vantage point. Two human lightning rods on a dirt hill in the badlands. Great idea.

Enough of this barren waste land and it's relentless heat. Tomorrow we roll out, Wyoming bound.