Friday, May 31, 2013
Woke up to more rain this
morning and cool temperatures, so we decided to stay in today, get some wash
done and just rest. We watched a couple of movies this afternoon, and then
played some cards.
So far, we have had over 3”
of rain with this storm and we are under a flood watch.
Saturday, June 01, 2013
The sun was shining
today!! So, we decided to see some sights. When we got out to the car, we had a
big surprise. On top of the driver’s front tire was a bird nest, with long
strands of string hanging from it.
The time frame that the car sat there was
from late Thursday afternoon through this morning. We felt so bad to have to
move the nest, but better that it be done now, before there are eggs in it. So,
we put it on a limb of the tree next to the rig, hoping for the best.
Bird nest taken care of,
we headed back to the National Park, driving the southern loop. This park is beautiful;
there are so many different types of landscapes.
Grassy hills that drop
suddenly to form cliffs showing the different levels of sediment, making it
look like they are painted with different colors. The erosion of the different
clays leaves huge boulders sitting on top of pedestals, ready to topple at any
moment. The recent rains have caused mudslides, rearranging the landscape
again.
The park is full of Prairie
Dog Villages and we stopped to watch their antics many times.
Today we even saw
several babies, under the watchful eyes of adults, as they played and rolled in
the dirt. We also saw a few lone buffalo on the grassy slopes, and some wild
horses.
After the completion of
the park loop, we drove east on I-94, backtracking a little, to the visitor’s
center for the painted hills of the North Dakota Badlands.
Before we even got
all the way into the parking lot, we find a small herd of Bison resting in the
grass. These were older males, I think, they had the full beards of a more
mature bull. It is easy to forget that these are wild animals and that they can
be very dangerous.
They are use to people and seem to take our presence with a
grain of salt. But, the biggest bull can weigh up to 2000 pounds, turn on a dime
and charge at 35 miles per hour! Phil got really close to take pictures, made
me really nervous!
To finish off the day, we
went back to the ice cream shop and finally got our ice cream, it was really
good!
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