into the spring: Left the lake and headed out to the Badlands!

Hey there!

Sorry I got so far behind! I promise to catch you all up on our adventuring and blog more often in the future... I've just been having a lot of trouble getting my computer and internet to work recently. My laptop is getting old and it's not handling travel so well... and my internet access has been limited. But I've been taking tons of pictures so make sure you check out my shutterfly!

Here's a quick rundown of most of our travels since Yankton, South Dakota!

Heading out from Yankton on I-90 we quickly learned about Spencer's favorite spot in the car! For a whole day he wouldn't leave the center console between mommy and daddy! He was ready for adventure.

The afternoon was hot and on our way west we saw a sign for Spencer! We were both wishing earnestly for a lunch break so we took the exit for Spencer and soon found that we would not be stopping anywhere there for lunch. The "town" was really nothing more than a cluster of houses with one gas pump. The sign welcoming us into the neighborhood actually said, "The little town that will not die."

Once we found the gas pump we also found the Spencer Community Coffee Shop. The little building was open but empty and we used their microwave to heat up our lunch. They had some tables, a pool table, and a small supply of snacks, tea, and coffee. Little envelopes for payment accompanied the shop's unlocked money box. Oh, small towns.

Back on the road we headed west, we drove for hours with dry, flat landscape stretching out around us in all directions. Then suddenly the Badlands just erupted in front of us. We've both been here before as kids but seeing it again was really exciting. We pulled over at the first overlook, climbed around, and then ignored all 1000 subsequent scenic overlooks in order to make it to our campsite by nightfall.

At the Ranger Station we got the recommendation to camp at the primitive sites in the national park. We were told we'd likely see wildlife along the way and near our campsite, but we didn't expect to see buffalo right in the middle of our campsite!

In the morning we woke up with the sun and took a hike up a hill near our campsite. Spencer is quite the little hiker already! We've been lucky to have some pretty great weather so far, I hope it continues!