Free and easy down the road I go
by Vershun on May.14, 2008, under Badlands/Ohio Trip
Tomorrow I embark on an epic journey: driving to Ohio.
It’s not really epic and a Journey is a stretch (JUST A SMALL-TOWN GIRL), but I’ll be gone for a while and the unfortunate fact is I’ll probably write about it. More unfortunately, you’re reading about it.
My first stop, which I hope to be at tomorrow, is South Dakota’s Badlands. Since it’s a desert climate (I guess), I shouldn’t have to worry too much about the rain. More importantly though, I won’t have to worry about bears.
I’ve never really encountered a bear so I can’t tell you how or when my irrational fear came about, but I’ve camped fairly extensively in the Colorado Rockies and I’m always afraid a bear will come into my tent and eat my face. Maybe it’s their size, their horrifying teeth, or the teddy bear I owned as a child that told me to burn things, but something about me and bears just don’t click.
What’s more irrational, however, is my complete disregard of the danger of mountain lions. I’m pretty sure more people are mauled by mountain lions than bears, but there’s something about the fact that they’re kitty cats that really makes them seem inferior. When you encounter a mountain lion you’re supposed to look big, yell, throw rocks at it… whatever. You SCARE the big predator away. Psh. Try that to a grizzly.
A fantastic twist of fate would be if I got attacked by a mountain lion and bear attacks it, saving my life in the process. I’d still hunt it down and kill it though. Fucking bears.
So back to the Badlands. Evidently the most dangerous wildlife there are rattlesnakes, which live in abundance. I’m not quite sure how to handle this, but my guess is when you hear rattling you should move away from the source. I also assume if you’re bitten it’s socially acceptable to bite back.
From what I gather my experience camping in the Badlands will look something like this:
(I hope you appreciate that screenshot because despite my absolute ridiculous awesomeness with all things Super Mario it took me 20 minutes to get to World 6).
Rereading what I wrote so far has shown me that I have to go to bed. Drivel.
Check back (it’ll be more interesting I’m just setting the bar low… or something).
May 15th, 2008 on 11:37 am
You lie. Technically, you’re first stop would be what we Rapid Citians refer to as North Rapid….aka The slums. Big K should have been your first sign. I’m glad you’ve been directed toward betterment. Now, on to the badlands…which are, in fact, more of a high plains desert. It’s pretty, you’ll see. And best of all, if you kill a rattler, you’ll have an awesome little trinket to remind you of your visit to the absolute middle of nowhere. Happy travels!