West Quest Part Deux - Day 20
Interior, South Dakota to Rapid City, South Dakota
Monday, 29 August 2022
Today was the most relaxing day of travel we’ve had in over 65 days of camping this year. Our total journey was less than 75 miles via highway 44 that runs south of Badlands National Park but includes brief sections that are actually part of the park and also sections of the National Grasslands. Other than the fact that the road is a bit rough, it was a magnificent drive that we enjoyed at speeds well under the limit.
For almost the entire drive, there were thousands of prairie dog mounds everywhere. And while it’s open season year round with a proper license, the ones we saw today were protected due to the reintroduction of the black ferret to the area.
Besides prairie dogs, we saw a lot of cattle and bison including this bison grazing on one of the butte-like formations. It was amazing to see this mature, fully-grown animal in such a beautiful setting. (Just right of the center of the picture.)
Because we had such a short drive, we arrived at the Rapid City / Black Hills KOA Holiday around 1:30 pm.
After we set up camp, we grabbed some lunch at a local fast food place then went over to Ellsworth Air Force Base to stop by the base exchange. We had high hopes for the exchange experience but it turned out to be small and not worth the drive.
We ended the evening with a wonderful home cooked meal around our gas fire pit, which, surprisingly, we had not used since Day 6 of our Summer ‘22 Cross Country. Not sure why as it’s a wonderful addition to the camping experience.
See you tomorrow!