Taking Time For Fun!

Tomorrow I am going to take Mike to Rapid City. We need to go to Sam's to stock up on stuff - and it is three hours away.

Now, I HATE to shop, and I hate to leave the farm for any reason. We might go to the Big City (Pop 2800) of Valentine once a week. I have too much to do here and not enough time to do it. Makes me crazy. BUT, if we have to go, we might as well enjoy it, right? So... the Interstate that we access to go to Rapid takes us right past the Badlands. Mike didn't get to go with Tammy and me when we went in March. He has never seen the Badlands. So we are going to take the extra hour and go thru the Badlands, just so he can share our amazement.

Since we get up at 5 around here, we can leave by 6 and get well on our way, and still have plenty of time to goggle like tourists at the sights. The sun doesn't set until 8:30; so 14 hours for a three hour one way trip ought to be enough time to goof off a little! And I won't have to search for Sam's, I know exactly where it is - when we stayed in Rapid, it was off the Interstate, seven blocks from the motel, in a town of 40,000. Sam's is, well, Sam's - it takes me 2 hours to do my shopping there, no matter what. So no 'wasted time' there.

The weather here is still fairly cool, too - highs of 80. The weather won't be like the ice/frost storm that happened the night before the "kids" (Tammy, Thomas our son, and Amanda his wife) and I did our tour Easter Weekend, and it won't be hot and steamy like it is in SC. It should be a pleasant drive - and we're taking the truck; not just because we are getting a LOT but in case we want to do a little off roading. Grin. Love my truck!

I don't really expect crowds. It is funny how people's inclinations change - the Badlands is a long way from everything, and not exactly a fun place for kids to play. Well, younger kids, anyway - my "kids" of 31 and 25 loved it. They were raised to appreciate not only history, but natural history. Hell, I couldn't get them OUT of the Mastodon excavation in the Black Hills; we spent four hours in it alone! Not that I tried too terribly hard to make them go - it amazed and tickled me, too. Better than Disney World for people of our inclinations!

Hope I get some more wildlife pictures, too - the pics of the prairie dogs was simply not enough. Maybe get some shots of the buffalo and antelope. And for Tedward, maybe more weather pics! LOL Although it isn't supposed to storm tomorrow, one never knows in the West just when and where something will pop up...

I am FAR more excited about showing Mike this great countryside than I am about going shopping!