So we finally hit South Dakota and all its western wonders; once again, we were in places I'd only ever seen on TV or in movies, and it was really exciting!
The in-progress Chief Crazy Horse memorial in the morning sun:
This thing is gonna be HUGE. You can see (if you click for bigger) where they've painted onto the rock for the horse's head, and where they're starting to hollow out under what will become his extended arm. So cool. Wonder when it will be finished.
Very close to that, we saw Mount Rushmore:
Li'l Nib was VERY impressed with these great presidents:
We didn't actually go in to see either monument; you can see both of them from the road, and we had bigger fish to fry -- a day at the Badlands National Monument! Here, FINALLY, I knew there would be prairie dog towns, and I'd read that Burrowing Owls can be found in prairie dog towns! They use old burrows for their homes.
On the way, as we went through some totally tourist areas, we saw this billboard:
I'm sure it's delicious. And classy!
So we arrived at another place where, like at Craters of the Moon, the prairie is suddenly interrupted by this crazy harsh other-worldly environment.
Some photos:
Is it just me, or does it look like a naked woman is lying down (face up) on the right?
Hills like white elephants, indeed.
Wind and water can do amazing things; I guess these "hills" were just soft enough to be sculpted by them in a major way. I thought of how many people must've died trying to get through here, especially when, if you just went five or ten miles to the north or south, you'd never know it was there. You'd see only rolling prairie. If you were unlucky enough to hit this stuff, though, there was just no way you were getting your wagon through it. You'd have to backtrack and go around.
How many people hid here from the law, knowing they could go in and out of caves and between the spires and rocks and never be found?
On our way to the Pinnacles overlook to search for Bighorn Sheep, we found a prairie dog town!
Being a prairie dog is tiring business:
See?
It really helps when you have a partner to lean (or sit) on:
Now THAT'S love!
Suddenly, in the distance, we saw something -- waaaaaayyyy in the distance, near the back of the dog town:
YES OMG OMG YES IT'S A BURROWING OWL YES OMG!!!!!!
He stretched out his little leg and wing!
The pictures are horrible; we didn't want to get out of the car and walk into the prairie dog town and startle everything, and for fear of fleas and snakes (they are VERY common in the little dog towns), and because it was like a million degrees. Still, it's OBVIOUSLY A BURROWING OWL!!!!!! LIFER OF ALL LIFERS! I felt almost like I'd seen an Ivory-billed Woodpecker; it was the most exciting bird sighting I've ever had. At that moment, I could've been magically transported back home or to work or to anywhere, and I'd still have been ecstatically happy.
Burrowing Owl!
We also saw the official "trash bird" of the trip, Mountain Bluebird:
and some buffalos. But no Bighorn Sheep. Dangit. On this trip, I'd seen a coyote (life mammal), a big old jackrabbit (lifer), buffalo (bison, whatever), pronghorn antelope, moose (lifer), and elk (lifer); the bighorns were the only mammal that eluded me. Oh well.
Wow. Burrowing Owl.
From here on out, there was only the vastness of South Dakota and the Corn Palace between us and home.
Next time: more lifers, fewer pictures during the home stretch.
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