Day 7 - Badlands to Rapid City

Day 7 - From the Badlands to Rapid City, SD

Before I talk about the details of this day, let's review yesterday; big wind storm in the Badlands = no tent to sleep in at this point! Also, we are now in the Mountain time zone and I am not adjusting at all to the time change. I don't know if this is because my mind is in overdrive or if it's because I'm just not at all adjusting. Either way, my day started at 5 am, same as every day during this trip.

When I first woke up I decided to go back to the campsite and take another look at the tent. I was hoping that maybe the damage looked worse last night because we were so deeply disappointed. Maybe there is a small chance that with a little duct tape (which I brought) and some luck I can fix it up just right. So, while everyone slept, I headed back to the Cedar Pass Campgrounds. The tent was right where I left it in a big, messy heap. I spread it out, climbed back in and looked around for more stuff just in case I left anything behind in our haste the night before. Then I took stock of the damage and it was just as I had remembered. Poles were bent beyond repair and lines were snapped in half. I didn't have enough duct tape to fix this. So, I loaded the mess into the car and went back to the motel to pick up the crew. I was thinking that maybe Coleman would replace the tent since I was within the 30 day window. Wishful thinking!

Well, we weren't about to let this little mishap mess up our vacation. Sharon and I were determined to forge on and try to stick to the schedule as much as possible. Little did we know at the time that the day was destined to be challenging!

We did take a wonderful, geological, ranger led tour through the Badlands at 8:30. It was impressive standing amongst the beautiful rock formations that make up the most picturesque sections of the badlands. The most fascinating piece of the tour was the fact that the Badlands were not ever a dinosaur fossil site. Dinosaurs never walked through the Badlands because at the time of the Dinosaurs the Badlands actually connected the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf Stream. Cool tidbit of knowledge. Anyway, the only thing I found disappointing about the tour was the fact that we didn't see one single rattle snake!!!!

After our tour and some independent time in the park, we decided we should probably move on because, like all our other days, we had a jam packed schedule planned. Now, this is a great place to remind ourselves that I have very lofty goals sometimes and forget to account for incidental occurrences that may negatively affect the schedule a little. Examples of unplanned occurrences: Needing to find a new tent, temperatures breaking records at over 110 degrees, getting lost on our way to the caves...

From the Badlands we headed off to Mt Rushmore to see "the boys". Originally, the plans included seeing Mt Rushmore, visiting the Wind Caves and finishing the day with a visit to Mammouth Site. Based on this list one would think that these sites are within a short distance of each other. Nope, there was a little drive time between all these sites and Rapid City itself, which by the way, is where we will find the nearest Walmart and hopefully a replacement for the tent

We arrived at Mt Rushmore along with the crowds. It was insanely crowded. Coupled with the high temps and lack of sleep we were finding ourselves a little groggy and dragging. The tour here was fantastic; well worth the trip. It is a beautifully designed and maintained National Monument whose grandeur is beyond words. You can feel the strength and determination of the workers as you move closer to the monument itself. The kids were fascinated, not bored, by the history of this monument. They even had the last surviving worker there signing his book for a small fee. Fee or no fee, it was pretty cool to listen to the man who hung up there, way above the rocky ground below, helping to build one of the most recognizable monuments in our country.

After visiting "the boys" we are off to find a tent and complete our day. But, for whatever reason that just wasn't going to work out the way we planned. Keep in mind, we haven't even reserved a campsite yet so we're kind of playing with fire now. Anyway, we decide to head to the caves first. The thought here was it's cool down in the caves and it will be a nice relief from the heat. But, our GPS was not liking this remote section of the country. It sent us on a whacky, round about trip where we never found the caves. At this point we decided that maybe this is fate trying to slow us down. So, we back tracked into Rapid City to the Walmart to buy the tent.

Usually, I am not a fan of any Walmart because of an issue I had many years ago and I still hold a grudge. But, in a pinch, I will cross the threshold of a Walmart if necessary. As it turns out, this Walmart was awarded the "Best Store" in the country. And, surprisingly, it lived up to it's recognition. Anything you needed was there including a full grocery store, massage services, nail salon and hair salon. So, we decided why not get Matt's haircut in South Dakota. I didn't have time before we left so why not?!?!?! Done in 10 minutes and cost $11. What a bargain!!!! Oh yeah, and we did find a tent to replace our mangled mess. So, there in the Rapid City, South Dakota Walmart parking lot we left our old tent (next to a garbage can) and drove off to find a place to stay; hopefully one with a pool! It was so hot and the kids were real troopers up to this point.

We left Rapid City and headed out towards Custer State Park. The thought was we would crash at a Holiday Inn Express, Best Western or something similar. Staying in a tent in 100+ degree weather was not appealing. Well, our gray cloud continued to follow us down route 385. All the adequate hotels were fully booked and the cabins at various campsites were all booked as well. Guess we're pitching the tent after all. So, we pulled into the most amazing KOA campgrounds I've ever seen in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The kids were delighted to have a pool and could care less about dinner. So, they swam and we did some laundry and regrouped to plan the days ahead.