Day 9. (Lin) Today we were up early for a quick breakfast with our super lovely hosts, the Harrells, before hitting the road. Minnesota was nice (windmill farms and crazy clouds), but it was really in South Dakota that the scenery turned from modestly different to mesmerizing. The turning point was really the Missouri River. After stopping briefly at the Chamberlain overlook (which gives a sweeping panoramic of the Missouri River valley), we crossed the Missouri and immediately felt transported into an amazing landscape of small rolling hills of wheat and hay and then, later, the pure flat beautiful nothingness of the grassy prairie. And, of course, hitting 80-85 MPH (legally) on the arrow-straight roads is also fun. Our loaded Odyssey handled the extra speed like a champ.

Perhaps somewhat regrettably, we did swing through Mitchell to see the famed Corn Palace. It was a bit “eh,” but the delicious Mexican lunch we had just down the street made the stop worthwhile.

We arrived at the Badlands at 4 pm, after the pleasant surprise of gaining an hour en route. The weather was perfect — warm, but clear and breezy. We hiked a few of the shorter trails before heading to the visitor center, where we watched a surprisingly honest video in terms of local Lakota land loss and treatment by the U.S. Government.

Although we planned to drive through the park in the late evening, we didn’t anticipate how large the park really is. The sun went down on us before we were even halfway through, which, while beautiful in a soft way, was a much different experience than it would have been during full light. But the one advantage to finishing the drive at dusk was the number of animals we saw: bighorn sheep, fox, rabbits, deer, goats, and prairie dogs, in addition to the chipmunk and birds we saw earlier in the park (pictures below!).

All in all, a great day. I’m tempted to go repeat the drive through the Badlands in the morning, but I think we may head to Custer Park and Mt. Rushmore instead. After, ahem, a brief stop at Wall Drug.

Note: if you click on individual pictures, it pulls up a larger version of it.