6/9/22 Kansas, Oklahoma and home

 6/9/22

It cooled down nicely to 57 last night.  Quiet and comfortable sleep.  We have an early breakfast and are on the road again.  Next stop Kansas, which isn't far.

Kansas is very flat and we pass fields of wheat, corn and who knows what else.  The corn is getting noticeably taller as we get further south.  The wheat is golden and beautiful!  Harvesting begins in mid-June through mid-July.  Kansas is No 1 in wheat production and also in sorghum.

These geese were heading south too.

This cloud formation reminds me why I'm a little nervous driving through Kansas and Oklahoma this time of year, but the weather behaves.

Whoever painted these lines should lose his job, if he hasn't already! This went on for miles!

After a while, 35S becomes the Kansas Tollway.  They still have ticket machines and toll takers, although we find out that our Texas Easy Pass is honored here, so we breeze on through.  A sign says it will all be automated by 2024...

We reach Oklahoma before lunchtime.  The only change in the scenery is the appearance of wind turbines, although in the first grouping nothing is moving.  Taller corn, too.   Gas continues to be in the $4.29-$4.49 range.

Before long we're back in Texas and head for Dallas.  The traffic through Dallas is horrid!  Unlike Houston, where you pretty much take the same road through the city if you are going north-south or east-west, the road south through Dallas seems to snake around.  Plus they have those crazy 35E, 35W and 35 roads. Note: telling Greg to stay on 35 isn't helpful!  

It is 94 degrees when we get to the south side of Dallas and at this point we decide to just go for home.  It'll be a 12 hour driving day, but, heh, I'm not driving.

We pause for a picture of these sunflower fields near Ennis and then roll down I-45 to home.  8:00 PM.  We grab a few necessities from the Trek and Greg plugs her in for the night.  We'll empty things tomorrow!

The yard and everything looks good.  No issues while we were gone, thanks to wonderful neighbors!

6/8/22 Badlands, S Dakota

6/8/2022

48 degrees this morning but promise of a sunnier day.   We gas up, get coffee and head south, into Badlands National Park.  We will drive the Badlands Loop and see what we can see!

  

It doesn't take long before we enter the fantastical rock formations of the Badlands.  At the first pullout,  this mountain sheep poses for us.  We can see his family up on a rocky ridge.

The park has 244,000 acres which contains mixed grass prairie interspersed with wild geological formations.  Home to bison, big horn sheep, ferrets and prairie dogs. Lots of fossils - they say ancient horses and rhinos roamed here. It was called bad lands by the Lakota Indians because of the difficulty of living there - extreme weather summer and winter, little water, poor soil and hard to travel through.

The sun is obviously behind us as we take in this view! But look at that lovely blue sky!

The rocks here are mostly soft and geologists say they erode at about an inch a year!  Granite, found west of here, erodes at an inch in 100,000 years!  So the badlands change relatively quickly!

These beautiful deer are making their way to higher grassland.

The grasses are very green right now, so that the tops of hills and mesas look like putting greens of a giant golf course.

In one area there are hundreds if not thousands of prairie dogs! But we don't stop this time.

We do stop near Badlands Campground which is a flat land surrounded by more jagged rocks. There is a small store/restaurant which we check out.  The nearby Visitor's Center will open in a few minutes but Greg doesn't want to wait.  So..... we head south towards Nebraska. (Home is beginning to call....)

 The first hour or so is more ranch land and cattle. Rolling hills and green grass.

Then things flatten out more and we are back to farmland.  Lots of corn, which is about 8 inches tall here.

A whole lot of flat makes the sky look huge - Montana's Big Sky Country has nothing on this!

It seems that Nebraska has many small town or county campgrounds.  We stop at this one - Hebron City Park which is part of a complex that includes a baseball field where there is a T-ball game in process.  There about 6 or 8 campsites and one is occupied by what looks like a long-timer.  There is a bathhouse with showers and flush toilets, though the showers look a little sketchy.  Once the tball game ends we have things pretty much to ourselves.  $15 with electric and a dump station seems a great deal!  

It's 77 degrees as we have dinner. Time to go back to shorts and a T!

6/7/22 More T. Roosevelt Nat'l Park, Grasslands, Wall Drug

Tuesday 6/7/22

 49 degrees at 6:20 when we decide to go explore the South section of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. There is a 36 mile loop through the park, but unfortunately one section of road is closed, so we have to drive about 30 miles, then turn around and come back.  The rain is intermittent and light but enough to discourage hiking.

Just a short distance from the campground, we stop to admire a herd of wild horses.  They are pretty far away but we can see there are one or two foals among them.

We spot a few deer and a bison or two.  

Then we come upon this antelope with what looks like a newborn!  She moves off rather quickly, nudging the little one.  Unfortunately I didn't have my long lens on the camera and couldn't get a good shot.  

There are several exposed coal veins in the park that are slowly burning.  There are signs that say not to report them as fires.  All we see is steady wisps of smoke in a few spots.

More interesting layered rock formations and vistas that are hard to distinguish through the misty weather. We stop for a hearty breakfast of sausage and egg tacos at an empty Badlands Overlook.  (Not much to overlook.) We've seen very few other vehicles, so feel free to run our generator to make coffee.

 

On the way in, the prairie dog town seemed deserted, but on the return trip the rain has quit and the prairie dogs are out and about,  doing some housecleaning - moving mud?  We sit and watch and listen to their chirps and whistles.  I know they are rodents - but darn cute ones!

By 11AM we have sunshine. Yeah!  We do a quick stop at Painted Canyon - part of the park, but on a different road, and then move on towards South Dakota and the Badlands.

Interesting road signs for driving - the first one says THINK  and a little while later a sign says WHY DIE?

Miles and miles and miles of beautiful grasslands and frequent antelope sightings. 

 Unfortunately, within an our or so we can see banks of dark clouds in the distance and we can tell that we'll be in their vicinity before too long.  We drive into heavy rain and lightning.  But it doesn't last long.  I think this area of the country is very prone to storms and bad weather - recalling terrible storm while camping in this area years ago.

The rain all but stops as we near Sturgis, South Dakota - the site of the huge yearly motorcycle rally. (I think it is in July, so we're good.)  As we wind back roads into Sturgis we come to a short section that has substantial SNOW along the road!  Must be a high spot!  

Considering the rain, we decide not to try boondocking on dirt/gravel road at what is referred to as "The Wall". Instead we opt for the paved parking area at the Wall Drug complex.  

Wall Drug is an American icon, with signs for miles in either direction advertising $.05 coffee, free ice water, clean bathrooms, etc. etc.  It has become a shopping mecca of sorts, with many stores, places to eat and drink, animated and stuffed animals, and hundreds of "cheesy" attractions and souvenirs.  (A perfect place to pick up a couple of post cards.)  

This is one of a complex of buildings at Wall Drug.

We wander around for a while, then find the designated boondocking parking lot where just a few others are spending the night.  Only draw back is that it is next to a railroad line - quiet, except for when these engines warms up and depart sometime in the wee hours.  I didn't know it took so long to warm up!

We will be just a few miles from the entrance to the Badlands National Park in the morning!