The Hike

Last night was one of the most amazing nights of my life.  Six other park rangers and I went to Badlands National Park, about an hour east of Mt. Rushmore.  I don't even really know how to describe the Badlands... the terrain is somewhere in between the Grand Canyon and the moon...  We got to the Badlands around 10pm and I didn't get home until 4am this morning... there was a lot of wine and chocolate involved... I never want to leave South Dakota.

Meanwhile, the visitors at Mt. Rushmore get crazier and crazier every day.
And some people are so bitter and nasty, I just want to hug them and tell them not to be so miserable.

Today, some woman asked me, "At what age do buffalo ween their young?"  ....when I said I had no idea, she actually got angry and said, "Well you obviously didn't receive enough training."

There was a group of 90 year-olds the other day who came... the majority of the group stayed inside the information center instead of, oh, I dunno, taking pictures/seeing the museum/taking in the fact that they were at Mount Rushmore... One of the 90 year-olds said, "Why would anyone want to go to Hawaii? It's too touristy there!"  ....REALLY?!?! You're at MOUNT RUSHMORE!!

The kids are (usually) still hilarious... except for this one kid on my ranger walk the other day who thought she would play her kazoo throughout my entire ranger walk.

Finally, when one kid told me his favorite president was Abraham Lincoln, I naturally asked "why?"  He replied, "Because he freed the white people."