Day 47 South Dakota into Minnesota

Once again, the dogs woke me up at 5:30, so I walked them, fed them, and cooked eggs for myself. I left the Cedar Pass Campground and drove through the loop in Badlands National Park for an hour. It is supposed to have bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and ferrets, but I didn’t see any. I did see incredible rock formations. The term “badlands” is a geologic term used to describe terrains typically characterized by soft sedimentary rocks that erode easily. There are badlands in Wyoming, Utah, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nebraska (some of which I have already seen), but I doubt they are as amazing as the ones here. I must have taken 50 photos, but I only posted a few here, including one from the Big Badlands Overlook that spans a large area of the park.

I then headed east along I-90. When I crossed over the Missouri River, I pulled off at the Chamberlain Rest Stop and Visitor Center, which offers a stunning view of the river and provides information on the many Native tribes from the area, including nine subsets of the general Sioux Tribe. In 2016, they constructed the large metal Dignity of Earth and Sky statue. The picnic area includes a concrete tipi structure, similar to those seen at other South Dakota rest stops. The other emphasis of the Visitor Center is the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition which crossed the river nearby on the westward journey and on the return.

I have now crossed over or by the eight longest rivers in the lower forty states. The longest is not the Mississippi; it is the second longest, just behind the Missouri River.

Just before I left South Dakota, I stopped off in Sioux Falls and visited the Falls Park, which included information on the history of the city, mostly centered around the waterfalls on the Big Sioux River. I walked the dogs through the park and again took many photos, including one from the observation tower.

I then finally crossed into Minnesota and drove to the Blue Mounds State Park to camp for the night. Tomorrow I will see more of Minnesota.

Gipper started acting a little weird; about six times when I stopped for gas or groceries, I returned to the car and found him lying on the floor underneath the steering wheel. I’m not sure how he did that, because I couldn’t get him out of there without opening the driver’s door and pulling him out.