Day 293. May 25, 2014. Day trip to the Black a Hills

LOCATION:  Badlands National Park in SW South Dakota

WEATHER:  Sunny and hot in the AM. High around 80.  Rainy and cool in the PM

 We took a 2-hour hike on one of the trails in the Badlands.  It winds through grassy lands and the rock formations.  Toward the end, we were both hot and tired.  Here is George "airing out".  

My face was red as a beet.

Then we drove west to visit attractions in the Black Hills.  The trip was farther  than we had thought.  We first drove through part of Custer State Park.  We had a picnic of crackers and sardines.  :-(.  It is really pretty with lots of wildlife.  Here are some pronghorn antelope grazing near the road

Then we went on to Wind Cave National Park.  We had not heard of this national park before we bought a national park book in preparation for this trip.  We took a tour through the cave.  Its fame is that it is the longest in the world.  The National Park also has beautiful landscape and lots of wildlife.  These bison were crossing the road as we travelled by

This big guy was not afraid of cars!

We took a "short cut" back to our campgrounds.  For most of the way, we were on a gravel road maintained by an Indian reservation.  It had lots of ruts in it. We were the only car on the road for miles and miles.

Back at the campground, we had dinner and enjoyed the breath-taking sunset as seen from our trailer door.

DINNER:  During our road trip today, we didn't pass by any grocery store, so again, I'm digging into the back-up food box.  I love to listen to The Splendid Table on public radio, and receive a weekly newsletter with recipes.  This one caught my eye.  It is a simple pasta dish with sautéed zucchini and herbs.  The twist is to slightly sautée drained capers to sprinkle on top.  It also called for Parmesan cheese that I was out of, so I substituted with blue cheese.  I added a few bits of SPAM, too....couldn't resist.