Sunday, November 16, 2014

Spring Break 2014—part 1, the Badlands

It happened so that the stars aligned and a few events were all scheduled for the same weekend—a baby blessing, sealing, and Easter—so we headed out to Utah along with all of Derrick’s siblings—something else that doesn’t happen very often!

With now 3 kids in tow, we decided it would be cheaper and more convenient if we drove to Utah—something we’ve never done before. After weeks of planning and researching, we decided to take a few days to get out there and see some sights along the way.

The first day we left just after lunch and just drove. And drove. After about 10 hours, we finally arrives in Kadoka, SD, near the eastern entrance to the Badlands, and stayed in a seedy motel with the absolute worst continental breakfast in America. The girls did great in the car. How hard can it be for a kid to eat as many snacks as they want and use the iPad as much as they want? Real rough.

After finding some real breakfast, we drove through the Badlands. I’ll be honest, I had no idea what they were, or what to even expect. They only thing I knew about the Badlands was it was the location for the opening scene of Jurassic Park, where they were digging up dinosaur bones. But they were SO COOL. Really cool formations, and we even got to see real dinosaur bones. That was the girls’ favorite part, and probably mine too.

We thought it was really cool how the landscape would go from dry jagged peaks to rolling hills with grass and vegetation. It really was its own kind of beautiful--this crazy rocky formation in the middle of flatlands. If you’re ever in the area, it’s definitely worth the drive through.

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