Quick update: Badlands, Black Hills

Hey, just a quick one today- the thunderclouds are once again rumbling over South Dakota and I've got to get moving. Passed through the Badlands yesterday, really awesome rock formations that go on for miles. Crazy buttes, spires, buttresses, mesas, and all of it is banded throughout with red and beige rock layers. Every time I rounded a bend in the road, I was treated to another great view.





I also want to send huge thanks to Zach and April Kilgore of Winner, SD, who graciously put me up for the night in their house and treated me to dinner. I met Zach in the park, where I was fixing myself a dinner of Vienna sausages and spaghetti. He walked over, struck up a conversation, and after hearing that I was planning on staying in the park, invited me to stay with his family. I can't thank them enough, really generous and good-hearted folks.
I'm in Rapid City right now, which is sort of the gateway to the tourist mecca thqt is the black hills. Kind of seedy and run-down, lots of pawn shops.

and here's what appears to be a man offering a sacrificial baby to a majestic eagle.