Day 19. June 18th. Badlands, SD

Ever wonder what those big red numbers are on the front of many Airstream travel trailers? Me too, so I researched: they are issued by the WBCCI Airstream owner's club and have nothing to do with when the trailer was built or when the trailer owner joined the club. WBCCI stands for Wally Byam Caravan Club Intl; Wally's the guy who started the Airstream company several decades back.

And do you wonder why this bit of trivia is in my blog post? Because 15 Airstream trailers pulled into our campground yesterday, including the longest one I've ever seen. It looks like a humongous stainless steel cigar with wheels, 3 per side. Airstreams are built like Sherman tanks and are quite heavy so this bugger must be a bitch to tow.

Did the Badlands loop yesterday AM - very windy, and stopped at the visitor's center which is one of the better ones in the NP system. We didn't see Rocky and I suspect he either succumbed of wounds or simply died of old age. What's the life expectancy of a raccoon?

Played cards with Dave and Verna last night, lots of laughs. We part company today; they're headed west to tour the Deadwood area, while we head east to overnight at Lake Mitchell in Mitchell, SD. Trish says she'd like get her hair done today or tomorrow. Mine's been done for 30 years.

The pix were taken from various outlooks and includes the previously unpictured Verna and her killer attack guard dog, Lili. Lili's 4.7" tall, weighs 3.2 pounds, defends Verna from would-be attackers by licking their ankles until they fall down on the ground giggling helplessly, all thoughts of violence forgotten.

Shortly after they got Lili and she was still a pup about the size of your average adolescent field mouse, Dave was downtown with her one day. Some guy walked by, noticed the little furball and said, "Hey, where's the other half of your dog, mister?"

Day 18. June 17th. Badlands, SD

There was a tornado warning for this area last night, ending at 11 PM. We saw lots of lightning off to the west, but no storm action where we are, Badlands Ranch and Resort. The name BRR sounds considerably more grandiose than it actually is - which is a bit tacky and haphazardly managed. On the plus side, it has grass, trees, full hookups, wifi and a very good price so we're not complaining.

Lot's of readers have stopped at the famous Wall Drug I'm sure. It advertises with hundreds of signs along the roads as you approach Wall, SD. And we are no exception; we stopped there for a while, took some pix. Dave & Verna stopped there also. We saw their motorhome in the parking lot and then found them in the store. See pix of gang with various Wall Drug residents. Verna was taking pix with her Droid, so avoided being in a picture herself - a temporary situation I assure you.

D&V are now parked beside us at the BBR. They served up a great dinner of buffalo burgers, beans and salad last night; our turn tonight and it's going to be salmon.

Dave and I met in the summer of '64 when we were working in the Forest Service in the Clearwater NF in northern Idaho. Lots of college guys from all over the country worked for the FS in those days, trying to slow the spread of blister rust, fighting forest fires, and so on.

The Badlands entry road is under construction, has 5 miles of bumps and washboard dirt to cover, one way traffic and many delays. Murphy's Law: we'd done a thorough cleaning of both rigs not 2 hours before we hit the cruddy road.

Today, we're doing the Badlands Loop Road, stopping at the many overlooks to view the Baddest of the Bad. I'm hoping to see Rocky Raccoon along the way, assuming he survived his wounds.

Other pix above include CO mountains approaching Denver and typical southeastern WY landscape.