Our first day took us from Minneapolis to the Badlands, with numerous potty breaks and a stop over at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. The kids did very well, with Preston occasionally breaking in with a "We're going camping at the BADLANDS! YAY!"
Our first big stop was at the Corn Palace. I had come here once as a kid and thought it was really neat. Its still sort of a time capsule - there's something very early 20th century about it. The kids seemed to enjoy it.
You forget how big the country is until you drive across it. Its sort of crazy how much the land changes at the Missouri. Before the Missouri the land is semi-flat, with farmland interrupted by trees - much like southern Wisconsin. After the Missouri, the trees disappear, and there are some hills, that soon turn into the real prairie - trees are relegated to an occasional appearance. Its not nearly as green as Wisconsin (tho greener than it will be later in the year). The sky is so much bigger, and the horizons are so much farther away than they are in WI, that your brain has difficulty judging the distance to objects.
We finally got to the Badlands around 7 pm, and I was thrilled because they were just as amazing as I remember. We got out of the car to take a little look around, then went to the campsite. The White River KOA is about a 5 minute drive from the park entrance, and it was a wonderful campground - with NO bugs. It got dark quickly and we prepared hot dogs and bratwurst over the fire (the KOA is the only campground in the area where fires are allowed.) The stars came out and were beyond beautiful. It all made for a wonderful first day.
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