Badlands and Missouri River

After Jodi's bathing suit mishap, we headed back to camp and discovered neither one of us had closed our rain flap on the tent.  It hadn’t rained where we were but it did rain in our tent.  That means Jack 1. Jodi 2.  Then tried to cook spaghetti dinner in between thunder and lightning showers, and some hail thrown in to keep us on our toes.  Eventually ate by 7:20 and the skies totally cleared by 8 with no other rain that night. 

Sunday, July 22, 2012 Day 17

Slept in until 7.  Had to try to dry the tent,tarp and footprint.  It dried quickly, and was hot by 8:30.  Headed out toward the Badlands and took Highway 44 instead of I-90. Went to the visitor center, talked to a scientist who was putting a prehistoric pig skull together.  Quite the puzzle.

 Many fossils in the region.  No dinosaurs were here because it was an ocean at the time the dinosaurs lived but creatures like the modern day Komodo dragon lived there.  Very beautiful in its own way.  Walked 2 trails, one through a canyon, up a ladder made of logs to a lookout of Badlands and other place we had hiked.  Kind of steep in places, not for those afraid of heights.

Continued on I-90 for 90 miles in (102 degree temp) and then headed north 30 miles to Pierre, the state Capitol.  Camping 5 miles north of there on the Missouri River, Oahe Downstream.  Immediately went for a swim in the wonderfully cold waters.  Washed our stinky white shirts, put tent up for the 6^th time and have now camped 12 times in 17 days.  Had dinner out about 5 miles away, Jack wanted prime rib but they were out so he had a wonderful rib eye instead.  Jodi had walleye with a Dakota Cajun sauce.  Excellent.  Also a couple of Fat Tire’s. Went back to the campground and took a walk in the heat. 

Tried to take the rain flap part way off as it was so hot.  Wind had started blowing.  The insects in the trees that had been singing all day as the sudden started winding down over about 15 seconds and then stopped.  Wind kept picking up.  Jack tried opening his side of the tent to cool us and a bunch of leaves instantly blew in but Jack didn’t mind as they skipped him and got all over Jodi!  Jack kept thinking a tree would fall down on us and that would be the end of J&J Part 2!  Thank God Jodi was too hot and delirious to think of that.   Wind howled for awhile and then settled down.  Slept poorly due to the heat.  Wild night on the Missouri.