I woke up just after 5am.  I made sourdough fry bread and eggs and woke everyone else up by banging around the kitchen.  We packed up and were on the road by 8am. 

Our first stop was “The One and Only Corn Palace”.  Weird place that was built in the 1880s to show what a fertile land South Dakota is.  There are large mosaics made of corn cobs. 

First, we had to walk from the RV parking area:

Then we had to take the obligatory corn palace photos.

The corn palace was a bit underwhelming but it was good to get a break from the car. 

We got back on the road and at one of our gas stops we had lunch/ice cream at a Dairy Queen.  I had a toothache today but I have a cold and hope it’s just sinus related.  I felt better after ibuprofen and rest. 

We arrived in the Badlands and headed for Sage Creek Campground, a free first-come first-serve campground.  It was down a long gravel road.  It was a little washboard-y but not bad.  When we got there, there were no larger RVs (rules said 18ft and under but I thought we might be okay).  In any case, we got a nice tour of the Badlands.  We saw prairie dogs, bison and a pronghorn. 

We got to the area for boondocking (this means for RVs to park with no expectation of access to water or electric) and found a spot pretty easily.  Much easier access than the other campground!  We picked out a spot on the rim.  Nole and Nova were a bit nervous and Asa was overly comfortable. 

After we settled in, our nearest neighbors returned to their site. They didn’t like how close we were to them and without warning started yelling and swearing, first at Asa who happened to be outside and then at all of us. Said she didn’t want to hear any kids and came here for peace and quiet. We were pretty close to them but no closer than anyone else along the rim.

At first, I wanted to stand my ground but it became clear after a minute or two she was going to make our lives miserable if we stayed (she started drinking directly from a bottle of Absolut and threatening to get naked). Needless to say, we packed up in about 5 minutes flat and found a different site.

Our new site is near other families (and Grandma K can rest easier since we are farther from the edge). We are also several miles away from the crazy lady.

We unpacked and set up and the kids checked out the area. The “cliff” here is much more of a rolling hill so Asa went down a ways onto it.

Then some cattle (and baby cows!) made their way through the campsite.

The boys grilled steak for dinner (sorry cows!) and we ate outside. Our neighbors seem really nice and we saw some other kids in the area.

The guys are outside throwing a football now. I hope to be up late enough to see the stars tonight but with the time change it feels later than it is.

Total miles today: 322