The Badlands

We woke up early at Rice Lake to the sounds of hundreds of birds chirping and the sunlight creeping through the trees. We took quick showers, packed up the tent and hit the road and headed towards South Dakota. The drive was very empty, peaceful, and a mix of farmland and rolling hills. The terrain between Minnesota and South Dakota blended together until we arrived to The Badlands - which truly was spectacular! Picture The Grand Canyon, on a much smaller level of course. Colorful and steep dunes and canyons go on for miles. We found our campsite, which was about 4 miles from The Badlands, but on the White River. We ran into a little local Indian market (which by the way, the Native American influence is everywhere here) and picked up a few chicken breasts and a 6 pack of Fat Tire beer. When we got back to our campsite, we quickly set up and started cooking dinner, which took nearly 2 hours! It's amazing how good quinoa and chicken seasoned with only salt and pepper tastes after a long day of driving! We slept great that night and were woken up at 6:45am to other campers packing up and leaving. We took quick showers and made coffee and oatmeal on our propane stove and then were off again to our next destination - The Black Hills and Mt Rushmore!