Badlands, Day 2

Saturday, July 29-  Dawn and I woke up before Tyler, and took a walk in a dry riverbed that ran out behind the campground.  Dawn found and collected a bunch of rose-quartz crystals she found in the riverbed. We even found the remains of an old car that had been pushed in the river, just a part of it was sticking out of the dried mud! Once we were packed up, we headed to the visitor's center. I bought Tyler a National Parks Passport, so he could collect passport stamps of all the parks we went to. The rangers advised us to drink a lot of water...they were going through a heat wave, and it was already 110 degrees out, and it wasn't even noon yet!  We walked up a boardwalk trail that had "Caution-Rattlesnakes!" signs all over!  Saw a rabbit trying to keep cool in the shade of a rock, and some birds hiding from the sun in a shaded ditch. We drove to the Badlands "loop", starting along a fossil trail that featured glass cases containing replicas of the types of fossils commonly found here.  We had some amazing views at the overlooks, and Tyler had fun jumping all around the trails up the formations.  Dawn spent a lot of time sitting in the truck with the AC cranked up, as the heat was opressive and getting to her.  It hit 115 degrees at it's hottest point.  Really an amazing park!