top of page
Search
Writer's pictureKay Helberg

The BAD-ASS LANDS!

Soooo the Badlands will get a blog post unto themselves because, well, they were sincerely BAD ASS!! Needless to say, Karl thanked me profusely for not letting the Badlands get off of our radar in the "what to see in SD" department... I wanted to see them, but had NO BLEEPIN IDEA of the wondrous gorgeous awesomeness we were in for! At our very first stop at a designated overlook area I started with (what came to be my Badlands mantra) "OMG-Are you KIDDING ME??!!!" I was ready for the beauty but not the vastness and the color and the intricacies of the rock formations. Not to mention they seemed to go on from here to eternity! Unfortunately, Penny wasn't allowed to go out with us on the overlook so my hubby, the saint, usually stayed back with her while I walked out to the best vantage points. As I was walking out to the the first overlook, a woman who was returning to the parking lot - after exchanging with me (in unison) "OMG!'s" told me that there were goats grazing down below. After taking in the view (and not seeing the above referenced goats), I stepped to the edge to try to get a good photo. At which time a big-ass goat (which actually turned out to be a female big horn sheep) chose to jump up from below and landed at my feet. Instead of my instinctual screaming and spazzing out, I somehow had the wherewithal to take out my phone to get this on film! Her 2 “kids” soon followed and they grazed right under my nose while a bunch of thrilled onlookers whipped out their phones as well!! You can tell how totally shocked I am as I don't do my usual "Howard Cosell" play by play of the happenings! I will forever be impressed with myself that I didn't scream AND fall of of said ledge in that moment!! (insert your vision of my strutting around like a proud peacock here...)


So what we found to be the truly jaw-droppingness of The Badlands was how different the formations and colors were as we toured this amazing National Park. We would have been more than happy seeing more of the same throughout the park but, instead, we would come around a curve and Karl would touch my arm to have me look ahead and see something completely different and just as awe-inspiring! Even how it went from pure rock, to green grass, to the purple hues back to the red rocks...just AMAZING! I've got to tell you that the soundtrack of The WHO's "I Can See for Miles" was playing repeatedly in my head!


At one stop I got out and wanted to walk out a little jutted walkway, but chickened out because of how steep it was. When I returned, I stayed with Penny while Karl went to explore and was gone a good amount of time. When he returned he told me he met a guy from MA who was riding his bike cross-country and he had taken his picture for him. Apparently he was taking time off after graduating from college to see the country. When I commented on how impressed I was that he was riding his bike on these hilly roads, Karl said he HAD acknowledged that today had been his physically most difficult ride to date. As luck would have it we met up again with he and his friend when we stopped at the gift shop on the way out of the Park! I learned that his name was Shalom and he and his buddy, Jeremy (who was from RI), had just graduated from Brandeis University and took off on May 10th on their way to ride to Seattle and then down the coast. They had no particular timeline and decided to see the country before getting bogged down in the real world! I took their pic (since Karl had only taken a pic FOR him) and told him I would include this amazing duo in my blog! (So here's me tipping my hat to you guys if you're reading this!)


Anyway, the pictures don't do it justice. Any postcard I purchased did not do it justice. My words don't do it justice. It was breathtakingly beautiful - that's all I've got...




35 views

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page