MaMaLiRZ

The excitement exuded from their skins. Finally a park that allows, no, not allows, but encourages you off the beaten path to make your own! The kids were immediately draw to discovery and exploration. Berin bounded, like a nine years old attempting parkour, back and forth across the edges of the path, scaling to the pinnacle of an eroded mound. Benjamin, ever more cautious and on protective duty of his brother bounded gingerly, ensuring a firm footing before escalating further. His coordination or lack there of, may also be a factor here ;)

Window Trail, Door Trail, Notch Trail, all beckoned us. But which to travel first? I chose the Ranger’s guide of Door Trail. Ranger Heather asked geologic questions, historical questions and fun for the kids questions. All answers erupting from Benjamin’s lips. This is his future. Mark my words, he will find his calling to the outdoors and either historical geology or astronomy as he reaches for his own stars.

Wind Cave’s story was one to remember and respect. In fact its becoming increasing clear how every National Park is distinct and spectacular in its own history and being. But the Badlands National Park brought this to a whole new level. The Table formations stand other-Worldly to the natural landscape. One may wonder why this small swatch of land differs so much from the space around it.

We will never fully understand this, but it will not prevent us from marveling at it and enjoying the heck out of it. Out of the now five national Parks that we have visited, The Badlands landed easily at number one.

During our Ranger guided tour of Door Trail, Ranger Heather reminded us of the fossils found daily by the park’s visitors. This, of course, set Berin on his way to discovering a fossil. I’m not kidding when I say he found one almost immediately.

Berin’s attention to detail is amazing. If you give him a mission, he makes it his priority and will achieve it. The small piece of bone sticking out (seen above), easily overlooked by any normal passerby, his eagle eye picked up instantly while he was scurried up the formation with his newest friend, met five minute prior. We documented it and moved on with the group but his excitement grew. “Mom, did you send it in to the Paleontologist”, “do they know what it is”?, as if my cellular service had come to life by the energy of the fossil’s discovery.

But that wasn’t enough, at the next stop while we are talking and listening to the Ranger’s next briefing, he looked down and found a snail shell. 32 million years old! I mean, seriously kid? Why can’t you pay attention at school this much!!

I could have looked down 100 times and not differentiated it from the muted grounds. But, we documented it and moved on. My belief, after that, was that he was satisfied with his discoveries and decided to scurry, climb and enjoy the Badlands for the rest of the daylight.

That sure beats the magnet he swallowed at school today! Homeschooling, apart from the “schooling” part sounds better every day.

The best trail for us was Window Trail. It had the best combination of tempo, danger and views. My mother’s heart flip-flopped in and out of my chest on multiple occasions. The best part of being both a mother and a father is that there is zero time for your own fears. If I show any fear at all, it immediately transfers to the kids. I’m determined as much as my nerves can stand, to let them be kids.

As the sun started to fall in the sky, it lit up in a beautiful dance of red and orange bracketed by the clouds and formations. We sat atop the latest playground mound and shared stories of pappy and sang My Way together. Thinking Pappy’s song sprung to their lips by some next dimension intervention, I quickly learned its the theme song to the latest Roblox game. Silly mama.

Sitting above the outdoor amphitheater we bonded in life and its memories while even in that moment, making ever more.

The dark creeped in and with it the cold. The stars started to speckle the sky. The rhodopsin in our eyes building to the point of seeing the Milky Way. As active as Berin was in finding his fossils, Benjamin had now come alive to discussions on black holes, white holes, and the argument over relativity. He confused the Ranger with talk about Sagittarius A. Thinking he was talking about the constellation Sagittarius, the guide went on for five minutes, until Benjamin clarified the question again, Sagittarius “A”…

I too was educated with Benjamin’s knowledge of our solar system and galaxy, which I must admit is not hard to do, but seeing the stunned look on the Ranger’s face and enthusiasm to take the talk a little deeper with the youthful interest, made me proud.

I tend to look at our Quest for 63 in 365 as something that I’m doing for them, showing them how beautiful the United States is, I was stunned at the profound pride I’m carrying in my heart for my children. From finding 32 million year old fossils to Sagittarius A (the black hole in the center of our galaxy), my boys make me proud and I am grateful for the memories that they are giving me through our story.

L RZ