Sioux Falls, SD
Wednesday, October 16
Believe it or not, today is the last full day of our RV road trip through the northwestern part of the USA. We started our day in an epic campsite just outside of Badlands National Park. Andi jumped out of bed, grabbed the drone and headed outside to snap a few pictures of the gorgeous scenery.
We had a fun day ahead, so the four of us dressed quickly and drove into the gates of Badlands National Park just after 7:00am. The air was crisp and frost on the fields before us, but today was suppose to be a beautiful sunny day in the 60’s. We’ll take it!
Right away when we pulled into the gate of the park, we saw bison grazing in the pasture. We learned about bison when we traveled through North Dakota in September so Tory and Aden were excited to see one up close.
Inside the park, we drove to the Ben Reifel Visitor’s Center to pick up a Junior Ranger packet and get a lay of the land. We’d been to Wall, South Dakota before, but never to the national park and wanted to do some hiking before we hit the road again later this afternoon.
The Visitor Center was practically empty on a weekday morning, so the four of us milled around looking at the exhibits and also watched a short film in the theatre about the Badlands and the animals who call this area home.
After we’d seen the indoor exhibits, the four of us hopped back in the RV to drive the Badlands Loop Scenic Drive through the park. Along the way, we saw amazing buttes, cliffs and spires along the sides of the road. The landscape and the color of the rocks here are so unique. As we drove, we also saw lots of big horn sheet grazing by the side of the road. That was amazing! The sheep didn’t seem to mind us driving by, or stopping for a picture.
I would have loved to spend the day hiking several of the trails that take off from the scenic highway, but we only had so much time during this visit. Andi pulled over the RV and parked near the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail, and we got out to do a little exploring.
This was an easy, flat trail with a boardwalk — perfect for kids. We walked along looking at the beautiful White River valley below and all the various plants along the trail. After spending the last six weeks in the rainy Pacific Northwest, the dry climate and sunshine felt amazing!
Before we left, we circled back to the visitor center so the kids could collect their Junior Ranger badges. I was feeling generous and a bit sad that our trip was coming to a close, so I let the kids pick out a stuffed animal from the gift shop. Both kids are obsessed with “stuffies” lately! Tory picked a tan-colored prairie dog and Aden picked a dog which he affectionately named “Jack.” (He names all his stuffed dogs Jack)
From there, we said good-bye to Badlands National Park. We’ll be back!
I hopped behind the wheel of the RV and headed toward Sioux Falls on Interstate 90 while Andi worked on his computer from the passenger seat. We talked about the trip, our favorite memories, and how lucky we felt to have this opportunity to see the USA as a family.
We decided to “mooch dock” for the night in Sioux Falls, SD at my friend Melissa’s house. Visiting friends makes traveling more fun, and once Andi and I figured out we’d be driving through South Dakota (vs North Dakota) on our route home,, I knew I wanted to stop to see Mel and her family.
We arrived at Mel’s house around 5:00pm, opened a bottle of wine, grilled burgers and hung out for the rest of the evening. The kids made fast friends and were running in between the trampoline outdoors and the big toy room downstairs. Tory and Vivi found the dress-up clothes. It was fun night with friends, and the perfect ending to our trip.
The next morning — Thursday October 17 — Mel and I worked out together in her basement and then we took off for home. Along the way, I dropped Andi off at his office in Minneapolis and the kids and I made the final trek back to Wisconsin.
We had such a wonderful trip. Looking forward to the next one!
