Today we continued our migration West to the Badlands. We clocked our 3,000th mile on this road trip and entered the Mountain time zone. We stopped at the Rest Area on the East side of the Missouri River to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center (located at the Rest Area). Although it was a cloudy day, the views of the Missouri River were excellent and we were glad we took the time to stop and visit.
Railroad Bridge and I-90 
Sacagawea
From there we headed on to our campground just South of the Badlands National Park. I guess my research on this portion of the trip was a bit “lacking”, as it turned out that we had to enter Badlands National Park in order to get to our campground. Since this was the first National Park we were entering on this road trip, we splurged for an Annual Pass knowing that we have several more National Parks ahead of us. From there the fun started. When you enter the park at the Eastern entrance, you quickly hit the steep downhill switchbacks with minimal shoulder. This seemed to make my co-pilot quite nervous and any attempt on my part to enjoy the incredible scenery was met with a stern lecture about keeping one’s eyes on the road.
We arrived at Badlands Motel and Campground without incident. This campground is all about location. We had beautiful scenery of the Badlands from our camper and we could actually see the National Park entrance out our front window. The sites were large with plenty of space between campers, but for some strange reason the 50 Amp sites didn’t have sewer hookups. We didn’t know what to expect the temperatures to be so we chose a 50 Amp site (so we could run both air conditioners without concern) just in case it got hot and we’re glad we did as it got up to 91 degrees on Sunday. We used the campground showers on Saturday (which could have used a good scrubbing) and our own on Sunday. The best part is that we were in dark sky country. I took my shower after dark on Saturday and needed my cell phone flashlight to find my way.
Badlands Motel and Campground – Site 35 
Badlands Motel and Campground – Site 35 
View from Inside Camper