Day 292. May 24, 2014. Badlands National Park

LOCATION:  Badlands National Park in SW South Dakota

WEATHER:  Beautiful.  Sunny, highs in upper 70s

We got up early from our campground on the Missouri River.  We awoke to the sounds of pheasants, flirting with each other.  This area is famous for pheasant and duck hunting.   Since the amenities are lacking here, we had a quick cup of coffee and hit the road.  Even at 7:00 AM, the boaters were streaming in.  

We stopped in a cafe for breakfast along the way.  It was full of locals.  Life must be challenging in such remote areas.  They were chatting about a community party for the weekend.  

After about 3 more hours westward, we arrived at Badlands National Park.  We normally don't make reservations for campgrounds, but did here, since it is a holiday weekend and a popular tourist stop.  The campgrounds are inside of the park.  We plan to stay here for five nights, making day trips to surrounding sites, like Mount Rushmore.  This is easier than moving every 2-3 days, with the hooking and unhooking the camper, putting everything away, the lovely dump process, etc.

I had found this campground online.  As we neared the campground, I (belatedly) read more about it.  I realized that it did not mention showers.  As soon as we arrived, I checked out the bathroom, and sure enough, there were no showers.  I was really bummed.  5 nights, plus last night on the Missouri River site without a shower?  Later in the day, we walked around the campground and I was so relieved to find a shower in another part of the campground.  Whew!

We took the scenic loop around the park.  It is hard to capture the landscape in a photo

In the distance, we saw bison which have been re-introduced to the park.  (The tiny black specs are bison), 

Then we saw thousands of prairie dogs in Prairie Dog City

George brought the girls here years ago, and he said they loved chasing the bison and prarie dogs.

Our campground is pretty full.  There are all kinds of campers, from tiny tents to the big rigs.  There is one other Airstream, and two Aliners (our previous pop-up).  This is the view from our campsite

DINNER:  We didn't pass by any grocery store today, so I had to dip into my back-up food box for dinner.  The "pantry" is getting a bit depleted.  We have some quinoa that I had bought months ago from a Whole Foods store,  so I googled quinoa recipes to see what I could do.  I found an interesting one.....

I sautéed onions and garlic, then added the quinoa to brown slightly.  Then I added vegetable broth.  I seasoned it with a Southwest theme...cumin, cayenne, chipotle.  At the end, I added some black beans.  The recipe also called for corn, but we don't have any.  Oh well!  George liked it.