Raindrops keep falling on our heads

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Well, its been an interesting few days. The Badlands (16th and 17th) were hot with no water where we camped. [Actually there was water but it was more like liquid sediment. And the campsite sucked. It was a big patch of dirt with picnic tables.] We saw lots of wildlife including bison and many, many prairie dogs and 2 prairie rattlesnakes (yep, that was a big 2, one on each of our little hikes). Also saw proghorn antelope, a lone one followed by a pack of coyotes. [Susan did; I missed this but did see the coyotes. Cool. She thought they were wolves. Women! We also came within 150 feet of a Bison.] No worries, they didn't catch it. Lots of delicious plums we munched on as we walked around on the prairie. [Thanks to Jim, who foraged.] Then headed over to Custer State Park. Very pretty and we found a good site on the creek, not far from the lake. Hot showers. Perfect. Well until about 6:00PM and then, it occurred. The rain. And not a little rain, a lot of rain. I'll let Moose fill you in on the rest. Lets just say I'm glad we located beer within the park prior to the rain.
Squirrel

I would call this blog, "Mother Nature opens a can!" Basically we got our ass kicked the first night in the Black Hills by a torrential downpour that the guy across from us said, "was the worst rain he'd seen in 19 years of camping there." The guy at the auto parts store said we got 4 inches in an hour. There were tornado warnings all around us and one guy rain into quarter size hail on his way in. We know how to pick 'em. Our campsite turned into a stream and when the bottom of the tent started leaking we abandoned ship and drove into town (Custer). We also discovered, to our great concern, that our rainfly is no longer waterproof. This is a HUGE problem that we will be working to get corrected immediately. John, we will be in touch. Also, during our escape, I got soaked and started to seriously lose body heat. I'm sure many of you will not be surprised (I can hear the collective "Told you so, skinny boy" from here). When I started shivering I had to go sit in the car and warm up while Susan got the bags out of the tent. Is she awesome, or what? However, we regrouped, spread stuff all over the motel room (the Bavarian Inn), got some dinner, sleep, and thought, "It could have been worse."

Also, the Calumet Inn in Pipestone may be historic but it also sucked. We were one night and gone. The Badlands Wilderness, unlike the campsite, was great. You can wander free (that's where we saw all the wildlife) and if it had not been for the damn snakes I would have hiked in a couple miles and camped in one of the many beautiful places. But when I suggested this, Susan politely said, "Hell no." You know how she is.

Today we went back to the campsite, moved across the road to higher ground, and hung all our stuff to dry. We're hoping for the best as there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms tonight. Wish us luck!
Moose

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