The BADLANDS

Yesterday was the most amazing day! I'm going to have to bullet point to get it all in...no points for style, but I've only got 15 minutes to write this!

—On the way from Aberdeen to Pierre, I saw signs informing me that Dances With Wolves was filmed in this area...ah, DWW, if only you had taken more time to show us your wonder... And when I got out of my car to eat lunch, I found that my car was covered in a thin layer of dust--much like Kevin Costner in every movie he's ever made. Pierre itself was a little strange--a nice town, but the capitol building is what you would expect to find in New England, but looks out of place among the rolling hills of the prairie.

—I drove down to Mission to interview a recent ND grad who is doing Teach for America at a high school on the Rosebud Reservation. The scenery just kept getting more beautiful. I think this was the first day that I really felt like I had left the Midwest and was in unfamiliar territory, and it felt great. The road to Mission has lots of hills and twists and turns, and you would come over a really high hill and then plunge down with the prairie on either side and mountains in the distance. Then I drove over the White River, which was actually kind of a milky white color, and as I said out loud (yes, I talk to myself), "Wow, was that river really white?", I came to Little White River, the miniature version, which confirmed my theory.

—Along I-90 on my way to Rapid City, I stopped at the Petrified Gardens of the Badlands. One thing I like about South Dakota is that they're not shy about their attractions, so after the 60th highway sign reminding me that the Gardens have been family-owned since 1954, I decided to stop in. I paid my $5, and went into the glowing minerals room (not the official name), which contained...well, minerals glowing under a blacklight. Then I opened the back door to the garden, and to my delight, I was surrounded by...piles of petrified wood. Literally, just little piles scattered here and there. But wait, there's more: the piles were all labelled with the most delightful captions and speculations: "Pile of Petrified Wood"; "This log looks like a beaver may have chewed on it"; "Nature flattened this log." I think my favorite part was the bench sitting in the middle of the garden, inviting one to sit and relax among these piles of petrified wood, wondering in the glory of nature as the semis roll by on I-90 about 20 yards in the distance. I'll upload the photos of this today if I have time.

—THE BADLANDS: Some of you may not know this, but my senior year of college, I tried to convince my friends to go to the Badlands for Spring Break. I mean, come on, everybody goes to Mexico or South Padre, but who goes to the Badlands? Those of us who burn easily (read: pretty much everyone at Notre Dame) should have the option to go someplace that doesn't cause cancer. And when you say it right: "the BADLANDS," I think it just sounds like what Spring Break should be all about. But in the end, I was outvoted. Well, I finally got to go to the Badlands yesterday, and it was SPECTACULAR. I don't even know what else to say. As I drove throught this amazing lunaresque landscape that seems to arise out of nowhere in the middle of the prairie, I just kept looking around and thinking to myself, this is so cool, it can't get any more amazing than that. And then you'd go around another bend, and it was even more amazing. I was there just before sunset, so the deer and bighorn sheep were out grazing, and I found a little colony of prairie dogs, and just sat for awhile watching them run around and dig for whatever they're looking for and listening to them "bark"--more of a squeak, really. Too cute to be allowed. I suppose I should put a disclaimer on this blog about my obsession with nature and national parks, but I grew up in South Bend, IN, which is the "safe" capital of the U.S.: we have no indigenous poisonous species, and apart from the occasional tornado or the strong undertow in Lake Michigan, it's pretty much natural-disaster free. But it's also a bit thin on spectacular views, so when I go to a place like the Badlands, I always feel like I can't tear myself away. In conclusion, we should have gone to the Badlands for Spring Break.

—I'm staying in Rapid City with Julia, one of my oldest and dearest friends. We've known each other since we were 4 (she remembers my 5th birthday party), and we survived Trinity together, which is a lifelong bond :) Oh, and of course, Notre Dame. She's been living out here for 4 years now, so I don't get to see her often, and now I can see her in her "home away from home," as she describes South Dakota. Jules is actually the president of the ND Club of the Black Hills, so she's been helping me make contact with ND people out here, so I'm going to be busy for the next few days!