Whenever I see a scene like this, I can’t help but exclaim, “Oh, deer!” Nobody ever finds it funny, though. This was taken from the work van near the entrance to the Badlands National Park in southern South Dakota. In reference to the headline for this post, I need to clarify that we slowed down for this particular picture.

This one, however, was easily taken at 65mph. That’s because Bear Butte is so enormous! It’s a state park site and stands all by itself in the middle of the prairie. It can be seen from a long ways away, and stands out as if it were much taller. It’s over 4,000 feet elevation, which I would guess is a little over 1,000 feet tall. At highway speed it’s hard to make more specific estimations.

These were some wild clouds, almost forming a grid across the sky. My time in South Dakota involved temperatures in the sunny 70s, but the trip home was a cold, windy one. These clouds probably illustrate a pressure wave in the atmosphere as cold temps push their way southward. Thanks, Canada!

I grabbed a pile of tourism information for central and western South Dakota, and I plan to take my wife (and son, once he arrives) for a nice vacation through many of the areas I witnessed at highway speed this week. Sure, there’s a lot of “tourist trap” stuff in the Black Hills, but it’s pretty easy to see through that. Even in the middle of “nowhere” in rural states like the Dakotas, however, there are always breathtaking sights to see. Next time, when I’m not on a tight schedule, I’ll be going a lot slower than 65 mph…with frequent stops.