Badlands National Park (Interior, SD) to Mitchell, SD

We went out to Badlands NP again this morning for me to get in my 9 mile run. Chuck also wanted to bike in the park, so he rode as well. We were going to leave today on our way back east, but after spending so much time saving pictures on our hard drives after my run yesterday and then spending time at the Visitor’s Center, we decided to just stay overnight again and leave after my run this morning.

Chuck riding in the Badlands

Chuck started his ride from the parking lot I started yesterday’s run from. It is a steep, steep road from the Visitor’s Center to this area and about a 2 to 3 mile climb, but flattens out to prairie beyond the trails located at the parking lot. He rode north on the Badlands Scenic Highway towards I-90 and back, which is about 16 miles round-trip. Unfortunately, bikes aren’t allowed on the trails here at Badlands NP.

On the way up to our start point I saw a dirt road off the main road, so I ran from the parking lot to the road and gave it a try. Turns out it was a good move, as it went for miles and miles and was a good surface with little climbing. “Old North East Hwy” was its name, but I couldn’t find it on the park maps. I ran out 4 1/2 miles and then back and towards the parking lot start point, which gave me 9 1/2 miles by the time I was done.

The road was all mine, as there was no traffic. Towards the very end of my run I had a couple of cars pass me and that was all. I had a slight tailwind on the way out and was feeling good and running good times. Upon the return trip I hit a wickedly strong headwind and my times suffered, adding about a minute a mile. Wasn’t as much fun either! But I felt strong and finished well and was pleased with the run. I can’t get over how much my endurance has increased. This marathon training program I’m on is great. It’s a good thing this is a step-down week and next week is the final big mileage week, culminating in my longest run until the marathon – a 20 miler – as my knees are starting to feel the extra miles. Until now my knees have been doing pretty good, not bothering me during my runs or after except when I did a lot of hills or steep ones, and then any pain was short-lived. Now, they ache quite a while after my running. This started this week really. I’m hoping it will not get worse and will be back to no pain by the time my final three weeks of tapering comes along. I don’t want knee problems now with the marathon so close and I don’t want any knee problems during the marathon!

Back to my run today – I saw 4 mule deer (one twice) and one rabbit as well as quite a few domestic cattle. I started another stampede! Funny how these cows are. Seems the younger ones are the skittish ones. The older ones just sit in the fields and ignore me when I run by.

After our run / bike ride, Chuck and I went back to the camper and ate lunch, showered (Shadow too – boy, did she need a bath again!) and broke camp. Poor Shadow! I hate that we have had to leave her in the camper so frequently to do these things. We do not leave her for more than a couple of hours at a time, and we do make sure she’ll be okay. We leave the skylights open for ventilation and the furnace or AC set in case temps get too hot or cold. So far we’ve been fortunate in that the weather has been mild and we haven’t had to worry about either. If we did, we wouldn’t leave her at all – one of us would stay back. But it’s such a bummer that so many of the places we like to go, like the National Parks, are so restrictive. At least she is comfortable in the camper though. She seems to have taken to it better than at first and it doesn’t look like she’s stressed when we come back. We haven’t heard her bark either as we’ve approached, except when we are sure she’s seen or heard us – then she starts. Hopefully she’s adapting well.

We ended up leaving the campground about 3 pm and drove as far as we could. Along the way we listened to the NPR radio and caught up on the news. We also listened to President Bush’s address to the nation about the Financial Crisis and his $700 billion bail-out plan. Scary stuff. I never thought in my lifetime I would hear such a speech. I felt like I was reliving the history of the FDR days and the Great Depression that my grandparents went through. I’m really worried about the economy. Have been for over a year now. I sure hope we made the right decision to go ahead and go fulltiming. Times are tough and money is tight. Especially with the current economy, gas prices so high, and with our house not rented yet. I hope we don’t have to go back home and live in the driveway again. Hopefully we’ll find a way but we’ve spent all our money for this month and then some already. We will really have to tighten our belts, stay longer in one spot, and perhaps me get a job to get free camping or extra money to keep going here pretty soon. So far we’ve been doing the ‘tourist’ thing and we knew this trip to Crazy Horse before going back east would be expensive, but it sure has taken a toll. We’ll see how things go now that we’re back in fulltimer mode and watching our spending more.

Anyway, we got to Mitchell, SD about 8:30 pm (lost an hour due to the time change) and called it a night. We’re currently boondocking in the parking lot of a Pilot Travel Center Truck Stop. We stopped in to get something to eat at their 24 hour restaurant as courtesy, but were disappointed. The Subway in the store had Philly Cheesestake sandwiches advertised (Chuck’s favorite) but when we ordered one was told they just ran out. We then tried the restaurant which had a Wednesday night ‘All You Can Eat Spaghetti’ special. When we ordered that, we were told they just ran out. The rest of the menu was quite expensive, so we just left. There is a McDonald’s just next door, so we got a quick bite there. We’ll get pancakes there tomorrow morning before we leave as well. At least the fuel prices here are better than we’ve seen for a while – $4.89 a gallon for Diesel. We’ll fill-up in the morning.

We plan to leave early in the morning, as we’re trying for Portage, WI, which is an 8 hour drive away (no stops). It’s the only place on the route with a decent-priced Passport America campground. I won’t be able to get my 5 miles in tomorrow morning where we’re at right now, so we’ll stop for a couple of days at this campground and I’ll run Friday and then do my 14 miler on Saturday. Hopefully there will be a good running area. The campground advertises running and hiking trails, but experience has shown us they aren’t always very long ones, or good ones to travel on. We’ll see.