Theodore Roosevelt National Park–Painted Canyon

 

awww. . .well it was just too bad that my Bub

had to go work for a livin’ on Tuesday. . .

so while he’s driving two hours north

to deliver the truck, and meet with the techs,

Sis and I may as well shop and have lunch. . .

Dave decided changing out the water filters,

and recharging the water softener would

be more fun than shopping. . .ha ha!

I’m not much of a tourist shopper,

but I did buy some yummy taffy caramels. . .

(I may need to go back for some more)

we had all decided that we would drive out to the Painted Canyon

after Louis arrived back from “work”. . .because later in the day,

when the sun was lower in the sky, it really lights up all the layers in the sandstone,

and paints quite a picture. . .

a couple of things were very interesting. . .one. . .

that the lignite coal veins can smolder underground if ignited by lightning or by a grass fire,

causing the caps of the mounds to turn red, as you can see in the above pic. . .

and two. . .that during heavy rainstorms, such as the area received last Friday,

the face of the mounds literally slide down to the base. . .that would be amazing to see.

we were so thrilled with having seen the wild horses yesterday

(actually “feral horses” is the correct terminology as these horses came from domesticated stock)

anyway. . .we decided to go drive the South Unit Loop again. . .and yaaa. . .

another, different group of three. . .

since both groups have been all males, I’m thinking perhaps these are the “teenagers”

who are not yet old enough to have established their own “brood of mares”. . .

but that is just conjecture on my part. . .don’t really know that for a fact. . .

seeing a couple of turkeys was cool too. . .

but, having read Sherry’s Blog last month. . .we know there is a herd of horses

here in the park. . .and that is what we want to see. . .ONWARD!

now, there are three of us watching, watching, watching for the herd. . .

but Dave. . .who is driving. . .is the ONE who sees them. . .

way, way out on a ridgeline. . .

it took binoculars, and all the zoom my camera had to bring them in this close. . .

just realized, looking at that pic again, that there is a colt nursing. . .

he looks awful big for all that. . .good grief, it’s almost as big as the Mom. . .whoa!

thank the Lord for camera zooms. . .right?

 

Louis and Kim leave in the morning. . .heading back to Texas.

 

Dave and I have decided to NOT drive the 175 mile round trip

to see the North Unit of TRNP, which is considered the “Badlands Area.”


We will be doing a two night stop at Badlands National Park in South Dakota. . .

It’s my understanding that is the setting for Dances with Wolves. . .

I think I will try to watch it between now and then. . .we’ll see!

 

This has been a great stop in our journey. . .

one that we highly recommend if you are coming this way. . .

 

See you next time in Rapid City South Dakota. . .

‘til then,

Janice and Dave