Where the deer and the antelope play....

Color my world with stripes! Isn't that beautiful? This piece of nature's artwork took millions of years to produce...deposition and erosion. See the picture below for more of an explanation or click here

the pink color is fossilized soil

celebrating stripes

even the grass looks striped from here

amazing formations

short explanation of the layers

is it me, or does the road look striped too?

And now...a  little bit of history. Does anyone out there of a certain age remember air raid drills in grammar school, in the early 60's? The air raid siren would go off, and we'd have to go under our desk, close our eyes (don't dare look out the window for fear of being blinded), and begin saying the rosary (I went to Catholic grammar school). It was so totally frightening...and I didn't really get it....but it was pretty scary for a second grader! The Cold War!

Not far from the Badlands National Park is the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, home of the Delta-01 Launch Control used during the Cold War. (Delta-09 Launch Facility is also preserved). For more information, click here. This unassuming building housed the power to destroy civilization by deploying the Minuteman Missiles. The building contained the living quarters above ground for the air force crew stationed there, and the launch control center was underground. Two commanders were needed to turn the keys to deploy the missiles -one person could not do it alone. There were 150 (?) Minuteman nuclear missiles located throughout the grasslands in southwestern South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. These missiles were capable of reaching the Soviet Union in 30 minutes. The threat of these missiles prevented war with the Soviet Union. (I apologize if my facts are not correct, but do read more about it...it is intriguing).

So when you think you are just driving through grassland in the Dakotas...hhmmm. These silos are no longer active in South Dakota, but 500 nuclear warheads are still maintained at a constant state of readiness in the Upper Great Plains. This tour was fascinating and a little unnerving. Oh, and there is a site at a different location to view one of the missile silos, which we did not see. This tour was fascinating and sobering at the same time.

Historic Site

Outside the Minuteman Missile Historic Site

Missile photo

more info

Anyone remember these books? (I spy Dick and Jane readers too!)

the buildings are so unassuming!

Launch control was located underground

Back at the campground, we have been enjoying cool nights. We finally tried out our outdoor tv, which I have to admit is pretty cool! There are very few channels here, and we kept flipping through to find something good to watch.

Relaxing in our outdoor living room!

the commercials are better than the shows

And then.....the day for seeing tons of wildlife!! WOW oh WOW! We were driving through the park to get to Sage Creek Rim Road, where we heard buffalo roam. What a pretty morning, with the light bringing out the colors so nicely. We turned the corner, and what did we see?

gorgeous landscape

around every corner is another beautiful view

Turning another corner, we spotted several big horn sheep! And a few babies too. They were so cute to watch. They have a spring in their step, and really don't seem to mind that they are on the edge of a cliff!! We spotted them in a few places. (Click on the pictures to enlarge).

just strolling along-no fear of heights for them!

a parade of big horn sheep and babes

looks like a whole family huddled together

more sheep at a scenic overlook-they came up from below

relaxing with the young ones

After this excitement, we found the Sage Creek Rim Road, which is a long, gravel road that slices through exquisite scenery. We had this road pretty much to ourselves. Most people stick to the scenic loop road and that's it. A lot of the land here was very green and hilly. Tons of prairie dog towns too. Just tons!

Sage Creek Rim Road

Up and down through the grasslands

 Then you see the big guys! They were not too close to the road the day we were there, which was good. We didn't seem to bother them either, which was even better. They are huge! They seem to get along with prairie dogs too. I was using a zoom lens, and did not see the bird on the back of one buffalo until I uploaded the picture.

prairie dogs and buffalo....together

check out the bird

 For my knitting friends....look at that buffalo fiber! It was everywhere. We stopped at a scenic overlook and there was so much fur dropped off, and also sticking out of wooden poles that marked the parking area. In the nick of time, I remembered..."take only pictures"!! I could have gathered a bunch of that and spun some of nice luscious fiber. Now I realize why its so expensive to buy!!

buffalo fur

Some pronghorn (antelope) spotted in the fields. They run so fast, and run as soon as they hear a car coming, as they should. They are wild! We never knew what we would see around each twist and turn of the road!

Pronghorns 

this guy is peeing! who knew?

The views were magnificent. It really did look like a painting with buffalo inserted in. Amazing!

buffalo grazing in the distance

Here are some creatures spotted on the drive back. They were not that close....I was using a telephoto lens.

mom and kid- prairie dog

pronghorn (antelope)

big horn sheep

big horn sheep and baby

 prairie falcon 

turkey vultures

I think the only thing we didn't see, thankfully, is a prairie rattlesnake! I'm taking the advice of the park ranger though, and watching where I walk very carefully.