The Badlands

It was a very long and boring ride all day to get to the Badlands National Park but well worth it. Riding all the way through in the 90+ degree weather with full sun brought me to the town of Wall. A huge tourist trap to take money, not the type of thing I was in the mood for. I cruised the outer rim of the town for a place to sleep and found a spot that would do nicely. It was a very old baseball diamond complete with encloused dugouts, one of which was left open. Behind a shed was a perfect spot to hide my bike.

Now knowing I had a place to call home for the night I set out for the first beautiful ride of this trip. The badlands is a small sandstone mountain range. Not much grows there, hence the name, but it made for some amazng photos and riding. The park was much larger than I thought and I found myself hugging turns and doging fluttering bats in the pitch black. I eventually made it back to wall and to my dugout. Before I got off my bike I looked at my little knook and realized just how miserably dirty I really felt. The idea of sleeping on concret didnt appease to me either. Minutes later I found myself begging an old lady that managed a run down motel to cut me a deal... and she did. I would have paid $30 bucks for just a shower at that point. I immediately jumped into the shower and hit the hay for a long nights sleep. The next day was going to be fun: Mt Rushmore and the Black Hills National Park

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