Badlands, South Dakota

We crossed into South Dakota yesterday. I have now been to 49 of the 50 states. Only one more to go, North Dakota, which we will be at next week.

It was really HOT today--104 on the bank thermometer at 7 p.m. We opted to do a driving tour through Badlands National Park, as a consequence. We drove the gravel Sage Creek Road, seeing lots of wonderful wildlife: herds of bison, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs, a mother Bighorn Sheep with her baby. Two of the bison were really close. One was heading across the road down to a pond in the valley below us.

The formations were really interesting. They reminded us of Bryce Canyon and Kodachrome State Park in Utah--colorful spires,with striations of different tones of rose, yellow, and white.