Saturday, May 23, 2020 we woke up at 2:30am to head out on a short weekend trip to Badlands National Park. #BadlandsNationalPark It is one of our kids' favorites. We decided to try a short trip because we can take our house with us. Josh even checked in with his brother, who is a doctor at Loyola, to make sure we were being responsible. We brought our own food and didn't have to go in anywhere for anything because we had the Airstream with us. #Airstreamlife #liverivited
We left at 3:30am and had a pretty quiet drive to the Badlands. It wasn't until we reached the Badlands that we hit some stormy weather. We have learned through previous trips that weather can come up quick out west. We pulled in to BLM land on Buffalo Gap National Grasslands just as the rain/hail started. It is a muddy, rocky road. He tried to pull the airstream in a direction to minimalize damage, but in the process, we started sliding. Now mind you this is on the edge of the Badlands. The van and Airstream slid in different directions and ended up jack-knifed. Thankfully, fellow RV'ers are super helpful. #rvlife Another gentleman helped and hooked up our van and Airstream and pulled us out. We pulled over to the side in a safe spot and decided to just sleep hooked up for the night. We were all frozen and soaked and so ready to get warm and head to bed.
Sunday, May 24 was a much better morning. We woke up and found a beautiful spot to move the Airstream. We moved, unhooked, and made breakfast before we went out to explore. Today's weather was warmer without rain, but it was VERY windy. We headed into Badlands National Park. We were greeted with Prairie Dogs and Baby Big Horn Sheep. I could have watched the babies play in the cliffs for hours. Instead, I took tons of pictures. We drove through the park to door trail. We wanted to hike door trail. It is one of my favorites. Such amazing views. Then we headed back to the Airstream for an early dinner of jambalaya. The kids LOVE to be able to explore the area where we are parked too. Brayde tried setting up his tent, but it was just TOO windy. After dinner we took a drive down Sage Creek Rim Road to look for animals and watch the sunset. We saw bison, prairie dogs, lots of different birds, and more big horn sheep. It was a good day, but we were definitely done with the wind and ready for some warmer weather.
Monday, May 25, was a much better weather day. We headed out early to go tackle the Notch trail. This isn't a trail we have hiked before and man did it not disappoint. Ella and I don't love high, narrow areas, but we did it and LOVED the views. I hope you enjoy the pictures. They definitely do not do it justice. After Notch, we headed to Conata Road to let the kids hike off trail. That is their favorite. They LOVE hiking on the yellow mounds and climbing as high as they can. It was a great afternoon. We packed our lunch and ate in the Badlands. We also got to see the baby Big Horn Sheep on the way out again. They are SO CUTE!! We hung out at the Airstream in the evening. Micah set up his tent. He slept just outside the Airstream in his own tent. He was a happy camper. We even had 7 Big Horn Sheep right in our area where we were camping. We stayed up late and watched the stars. The stars are AMAZING in the Badlands.
Tuesday, May 26, I woke up at 3:30am with a start. Something ran across my hand and woke me up. Josh got up to investigate, but we couldn't find anything. We laid down and within 5 minutes heard the sound of the culprit. A mouse made his way in the Airstream and was feasting in our pantry. YUCK!! We were awake for 2 hours chasing the little bugger. We finally got settled back to sleep around 5:30am and woke up at 7:30am to start packing up to head home. We left Wall, SD at 10:30am. It was a late start, but not horrible. Thankfully, we had a nice trip home. We drove through some rain, but it wasn't bad. We pulled in the driveway at 1am. Our kids are AMAZING travelers. They hopped out of the van and into bed. It was refreshing to get out for the weekend while also staying safe during the pandemic. I hope you found ways to enjoy your Memorial Day weekend while also remembering those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.
Comments