27 September, 2016 (Tyler Gebel)

At last we are here, the Badlands. We have traveled all the way down from Canada to our Macomb headquarters and now we are officially in the west. I feel like our transition to this area had great significance, when we stopped at the Dakotas Museum and the Lakota Museum to receive a tour, I felt an immense surge in more understanding of the culture out here. The Native American culture and the sad past they have endured moved me in a way that I believe changed my perspective of what I have been told through my education. WE discussed today that there is always more than one side of the coin between culture to culture and textbooks may only show the side of one coin. When we were done with our visit to these museums it was off to our campsite of the night. We knew we were in the Badlands once we saw the rugged landscape and its beautiful architecture sprawled out as far as the eye can see. I was really excited to see a group of fairly good sized prairie dogs when we were close to the entrance too. The flora and fauna has definitely changed dramatically as we have crossed the Great Plains. Two bighorn sheep greeted us when we passed through the main entrance. Our campground here at Cedar Pass isn’t too far into the park but the surrounding views makes me so glad to be in the Wild West. As the sunset began, beautiful colors streamed on the horizon and the blue sky darkened. When the stars came out, we could see more than we could count. The silence out here is peaceful and makes me reflect on all that I have experienced in the past few days. I am truly appreciative to be where we are and what lies ahead here in the wild and rugged Badlands.