Wandering through the Badlands being Good…

Much to the disappointment of her husband, Mrs. Jones chose to forgo the Coleslaw wrestling at the 79th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally 2019 (over half a million attendees) and opted to see what less horrifying events could be found in South Dakota! Maybe she was inspired by this brave soldier in a hurry to save some souls!

Armed with the best of intentions and new books (literary ones) Mrs. Jones crossed the state line. First stop, Sioux Falls! Not the most fastidious of planners, Mrs. Jones set up camp (which takes about ten minutes now), and started researching things to do… Holy crap, there’s a waterfall in the middle of town! After a delicious dinner spent enviously eyeballing her husband’s fresh grilled Walleye platter (MUST TRY) at Grille 26, (an offspring of Minerva’s) it was off to these damn falls in the middle of a city?! You’ve got to be kidding…

Stop in at the historic Falls Overlook Cafe and grab a coffee, ice cream, or cold White Claw while viewing the falls, which really are right central downtown! Odd fact for Mrs. Jones was a casino in every strip mall… modern day gambling everywhere you looked!

Time for the boys to chaperone Mrs. Jones westward to Interior, South Dakota where the Black Hills of South Dakota await…

It might be possible that Mrs. Jones is going to fall in love with every state in America, to the extent that she was relieved of her driving responsibilities because of erratic swerving while trying to capture pics of the countryside… Big, big farms and sky!

Is it the awe of a flatland beach dweller that the amazing rock formations are absolutely jaw dropping? While driving closer to Badlands National Park Mrs. Jones noticed farmers working in the fields with the back drop of the black hills – probably as ordinary to these locals as a beach day is to Mrs. Jones… A quick hookup at camp (down to 9 minutes) and it was off to the sunset!

Otter was welcome to visit with us as long as we stayed off the trail!

Day two, clearly suffering from an ongoing altitude sickness, Mrs. Jones signed up for a moderate to strenuous hike through the hills… Not recommended for anyone with a fear of heights! Desperately searching the prairies from on high for a Bison, or Elk – damn I’ll take a prairie dog – Mrs. Jones spotted a family of longhorn sheep!!

Finishing up the visit to Badlands by winding along the Scenic 240 Loop Mrs. Jones spotted a beautiful herd of Bighorn sheep grazing in the afternoon prairie!

The scenic loop tosses you out at a funny town called Wall, South Dakota where an historic drug store has turned into it’s own little Wild West Disney World… The best thing about it was the bookstore with a western theme. Who knew there were two Larry McMurtry books we had yet to read? Purchased, 6 books; read, about a quarter of one? Intentions count though…

Capping off our evening drive with dinner at The Wagon Wheel (advertised by a Semi trailer flipped on it’s side and a banner). Face it, if you’re going to fall off the wagon, what better spot could there be but The Wagon Wheel?

Bye Bye Badlands, you’re a rough place to stay good in! Wrapping it up with a view that Sitting Bull must have been proud of… Buffalo, Wyoming watch out! One shot of whiskey…