When bison jam up the road they can stand right in front of your car and because of their size do so for as long as they like. Warning signs spatter every national park cautioning you not to engage the buffalo as they can be quite dangerous. This leaves you in the delicate position of trying to drive around the buffalo without letting them know you are there or at least not pissing them off. This typically involves pulling off to the side and waiting for them to once again meander to the other side of the road to munch on grass. I would estimate our typical wait at around 20 minutes or so.
At first with these back ups we were like any other tourist, enjoying every minute and wondering how we got so lucky. When we realized it was not unusal but a daily event it quickly started losing it's charm. Getting stuck behind three bison parades in two days we've reach annoyance. So we were thrilled to have in Custer a more cuddly delay. Donkeys (burros) of all shapes, colors and sizes crowded around our car with the sole intention of receiving every ounce of affection we could provide, much unlike the buffalo who begs to be left alone all the while being inches from your hood. The lovable burros even nuzzled their heads against our side mirrors and let me pet them until my hand tired. I would argue they are more affection than our cat Charlee, though I didn't actually try to pet their bellies.
Next we drove to Badlands National Park which offered no shortage of beauty, though a stark and rugged beauty. It is arid and I can imagine to the French trappers that named it and who were trying to live on it that it seemed some kind of wasteland, but to us the rock formations were magnificent.
We made a quick detour to see Wall Drug which is the mother of all tourist traps and something to see (or not). What began as a humble small town pharmacy grew into a tourist dream land that gives out over 5,000 glasses of free ice water a day in the summers and hosts block after block of shops and randomness (like the mini Mount Rushmore or the gigantic animatronic T-Rex). Though we never did locate the free water and coffee in the sea of bodies and souvenirs we did have quite an experience looking around.
Back at the Badlands after driving miles on terribly bumpy gravel we finally arrived at our campsite. Beside the fact we were joined by 20 other cars and I couldn't sleep until finishing my book it was a peaceful night.
Burrows at Custer State Park
Burrows at Custer State Park
Burrow at Custer State Park "singing"
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park
T-rex at Wall Drug
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