badlands national park

with just a few hours of sunlight left in the day, my badlands drive was a little rushed.  however, given the van trouble earlier in the day which was so conveniently resolved, i certainly was not complaining.  the badlands were pretty cool.

i stepped out of the park just long enough to get some gas and quick see what the popular walldrug store was.  lot's of shops all connected like an indoor market place.

it was fun to see, but shopping was never an item on my itinerary.  

it was getting late and time to get back to the badlands park and look for a place to sleep.

when i was first in the park, i got to the visitor center just in time to ask about backcountry sleeping options.  there was a free camping area that was somewhat remote and some other areas that were even more removed from the roadway.  i didn't have time to find the more remote one, but didn't even need to because the first option turned out to be fine.   it was several miles off the paved routes in an area that was home to "1000" buffalo - something which the park ranger had been eager to note and with his practiced upsidedown writing skills, jot on my park map.  : )  about 500 feet before getting to the camp site, there one was!  maybe 50 feet from the dirt path.

[jolene, here's a response to one of your moose comments in one of the newfoundland posts:]

the night was pleasantly silent with exception to the frequent grunts from the buffalo and the ensemble of the coyote yips coming to crescendo every 10 minutes.   a few times i woke up that night.  each time i happily listened to the wild life sounds and thought how much better that was than hearing parking lot noises.   the camp site was a big circle in a flat area of a valley.  inside the circle there were some picnic tables and some out-houses.  

inside and outside of the circle was the buffalo domain.   when i woke up around 6 and watched the bison while i stretched my legs.  in the early light i counted about 200 of them grazing for their breakfast as they roamed freely on the surrounding hills.  i pondered what it must have been like for people to hunt them with a bow and arrow.

as i was sitting in my van getting ready to leave i was gazing at the buffalo on that hill.  then all of a sudden in the corner of my eye i noticed a shadow.  someone was approaching my door...  whoa, wait, that's not just anyone, that mr bison!  well hello fella!

he went around my van, chomping at a weed or two on his way.  i wonder how startled i would have been if i had decided to exit van before discovering a wild bison only five feet away!  haha, yikes!