Day 6-Friday: Badlands, Fossils, and Chimney Rock

The Badlands National Park, South Dakota

The Native Americans named them the Badlands because of how difficult they are to travel through.

Tyson, demonstrating his balance and climbing skills

Fossil trail, with fossils of animals I've never heard of.

 Between the Massacre of Wounded Knee (if you've ever seen Hidalgo, one of Tyson's all-time favorite movies, the opening and closing scenes are about that massacre/place) and Nebraska, we stopped at a gas station to drop off our hitchhiker and get some gas. EVERYONE there were Native Americans, except us. It was really strange--in about five minutes 3 different people came up to me, while I was sitting in the car, and asked me to buy something or give them something. I did give a man a small juice box, and Tyson bought me a pair of beaded earrings (thank you!) but it was still kind of a relief to get out of there.

Even though the Visitor Center had closed an hour before we got there, the nice ranger opened it up for us and gave us a nice, private, almost hour long tour while his wife waited in the car. He also gave some presents to the kids--after removing the price stickers. Colby would love this job ;)

Chimney Rock (now closed to climbing)--Our final stop!!
We made it home about midnight, just in time to go to sleep and get ready for General Conference!