Boo & Rat's Big Adventure: Day 5

Another early rise today to walk a few blocks down the road to eat at a 1951 mom and pop's restaurant called The Star. Perfect way to start the day that was shrouded by a dense fog. Our ride in the fog lasted a good hour on a back road #'d (just had to ask Kevin the # - I thought it was 16 - got a blank stare and then questioned "where were we?" Once his memory was refreshed he confirmed it was 16).

Today was not a high mileage day but more of a tourist day. We got our 'geek books' stamped at the Minutemen Missile Launch Facility, visited the Prairie Homestead and fed the Prairie Dogs, then proceeded to purchase our annual National Park pass at the Badlands. The Badlands are a sight to see - not a whole lot of diverse things to see, but a lot of beautiful formations, different rock layers, gorgeous views, and wonderful color changes in the formations. BUT the highlight was when we saw 7 Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep along the side of the road ahead of us! We immediately parked on the edge of the road, grabbed cameras, and proceeded to "sneak" up the road towards the sheep. We really hadn't needed to do that since they decided to walk towards us, and ultimately follow us to our bikes and then mosey on. And yes, it did cross our minds that one of them may take offense to our picture taking and show their displeasure by ramming us with their horns. Or take it out on our bikes. Thankfully nothing like that played out and they continued on their way down the road with no concern shown towards us whatsoever.

After spending a good amount of time in the Badlands National Park, and getting our 'geek books' stamped there, we headed to the tourist trap of Wall Drug, had a bite to eat, checked out a few stores, and then moved on to our next destination - Mt. Rushmore. We didn't quite make it to Mt. Rushmore and both of us blamed it on crashing from the fudge sugar buzz we got at Wall Drug. Also, it was looking like rain and we wanted to find a place to stay. 8 miles from Mt. Rushmore, Kevin saw a Cabins in the Hills sign - sounded perfect and as I type this we are sitting outside on the porch of our little log cabin, listening to the rain and flying squirrels. Oh, also listening to and watching the antics of two young red squirrels that are entertaining themselves, and us, by running circles around our cabin and each other. The lady that owns the place told us to be careful, that they would throw nuts at us and she offered us her gun to shoot them. Only out west.

Kevin won the "Population Game" today, but I won the "Guess How Many Hawks We'll See Today" game (8). Oh, he also won the "Guess That Pooh" after we passed by a rest area.

Today's Numbers:
Mileage = 174
Time = 4 hours

Picture Time!