South Dakota, day 1

Yesterday, en route to Badlands National Park, SD, we decided to camp along the Missouri River. The drive along 90 was lovely, or so we thought until we took our exit onto Route 45 toward Platte, SD. After twenty-five miles we had seen about 5 cars, 4 houses, and 3 crossroads. What we did find in abundance was flat, open fields of corn, grass, grain, and black cattle. We also saw a few pheasants, turkeys, and areas where flood waters had engulfed entire fields and crept to the edge of the road. We're still not entirely sure if this was a result of flooding rivers earlier in the season or recent rainfall. It was unfortunate for a few people's houses but gorgeous from our vantage point, especially with the sun beginning to set behind the fields.

We stopped in Platte to search for firewood, and although we were unsuccessful in our pursuits, we are happy we experienced Platte. To give you an idea, there is one 4-way stop intersection and zero stop lights in Platte. The population is about 1,400. Looking for wood, we visited the grocery store, the general store, the country store, and the gas station. Thus, in about 10 minutes we saw the entire town. The people were extremely friendly and tried to help us find wood, but unfortunately this time nobody sent us to a guy named Burt.

We drove on toward Buryanek Recreation Area, which meant we had to cross the Missouri River. What a view!!! The terrain suddenly changed from flat prairie to steep hills as we descended to the Missouri River valley. All I can really say about it is that you should all make it a goal to cross the exact bridge, at the same time of year, and at the same time in the evening. It was truly something amazing. (We took tons of pics with out cameras but none with our phones so we can't upload any if this scenery right now.)

Our camp experience was unique last night. The Missouri River passed right next to the park, but the campsites near the river had signs saying they were closed after 9/1. Rule-followers that we are, Sean and I decided to camp in the sites farther away from the river. In retrospect I think we would have been fine camping by the river because there were 3 other groups set up there. Oh well, I was at least able to convince Sean that we should pay the base campsite fee instead of the electric fee because all of the sites had electric, but we didn't want to use it. I think he was worried we might be arrested for not paying the extra 4 bucks. My thought: why have the price of a non-electric site listed and then not have any non-electric sites? Sean still thinks they still might come after us, as they have my address and license plate number. We'll call y'all from jail if they catch us.

The campsites were interesting because there was absolutely no privacy between sites, so I imagine it would be a bit awkward if every site was full. We were at least happy because after two previous nights of camping, we finally saw some other tents last night. We stood out like a sore thumb against everyone's huge RVs and campers back in Wisconsin.

Only other interesting things to share are that I washed our dinner dishes in the shower this morning, Sean had a close-up encounter with a beaver while photographing the sunrise, and absolutely everyone we have seen today has been wearing orange hunting gear (please see image below of men hanging outside of a convenience store in their hunting garb). It's like the state has a uniform or something! Mandatory: every person must wear florescent orange on Saturday's in South Dakota. I'm worried Sean and I might get shot in our black and grey fleeces.

Driving on to the Badlands today. Planning to camp around there and visit Mt. Rushmore tomorrow.

Travel log: 1,687 miles