Where the buffalo roam...

Anyone know that song? "where the buffalo roam, the deer and the antelope play...?" It's a song, right?
 
South Dakota sure is the perfect state for road trippin'. The weather's been cold and rainy but there are plenty of road side attractions, animals,and  interesting billboard to keep us entertained--not to mention the amazingly beautiful country!

Our first stop in South Dakota was at a CREEPY rest stop with a bathroom that looked like it had come straight out of a horror movie. Needless to stay, we didn't stop for long.

This picture is of us in Souix Falls...at the actual Falls. We grabbed some coffee in the town and had to admit our geographic ignorance when we asked a local if Souix Falls was the capitol of South Dakota (it's not. Pierre is the capitol, just in case you ever need to know!)


After Souix Falls, we kept on keepin' on westward. One of the most exciting parts of the drive was a run in with some prairie dogs (not a run over, don't worry.) Wow, are they some adorable little critters! We pulled off the highway after seeing a sign for "Prairie Dog Town." Expecting to look on from a distance at some wild prairie dogs, we got out of the car to stretch

Almost immediately, one little creature scurried over to us from it's hole.

We gave her an unsalted peanut and were soon completely surrounded by prairie dogs begging to be fed!

 After that little adventure, we took a hike through the badlands. This part of South Dakota has some of the most spectacular views either of us have ever seen. Giant rolling cliffs of red rock and steep drop-offs leading to long stretches of grassland are spread out over miles and miles of scenic pathways. We stopped at one overlook and ended up hiking along this gorgeous trail with mountains of muddy earth and rock surrounding us. The trail was kind of hard to follow--so we got a little lost, but fortunately so. Our path off the trail led us up a big hill that dropped straight off into a huge rock bed and grass prairie. Amazing view.

We found the badlands so captivating that we decided to forgo the rest of the day's drive and camp in the park.

 

After taking a long, winding dirt road up and down through the hills and plains, we found a patch of grassland made for primitive camping. 

 

 

 

Our campsite was surrounded by prairie dog towns and herds of buffalo, which made the night's wind storm play tricks with our ears (4am: "is that a prairie dog outside our tent!?" "maybe!...wait maybe it's the wind?" "No, definitely a prairie dog!" "nah uh, it's just the wind"....10 minutes later "I think there's a buffalo outside"..and so on). 

 

The site was also decorated with large mounds of buffalo poop! 

We're loving South Dakota! Today's adventure will take us through Mt. Rushmore and the black hills! Stay tuned for our next update from further west!