Rolling Along With The Reynolds

Jim and Cindy's Adventure Blog traveling all over the USA

Tag: Alien

Is this really on Earth?

What a trippy place. North Unit was home to some very otherworldy sight
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Luckily, there were no road closures in the North Unit Park area. Although, some portions of the 14-mile one-way pavement road turned to gravel; wear and tear from the harsh winter as well as recent rains.
* The highlight of this area was to see the cannonball concretions. Truly jaw-dropping, these rocks are round!
* Yet another highlight was to visit the Juniper Campground area. I had originally intended on us staying on-site here, but so glad we didn’t. The campground is much more suited to small RVs and vans. Big Rigs not-so-much. Then, to learn of the harsh weather impacting road conditions, Clark nor Jim or I would’ve been happy driving him into the Park. Additionally, the water main to the campground was temporarily shut off due the recent rains. Nonetheless, we enjoyed a nice leisurely hike on the Little Mo Nature Trail and afterwards enjoyed a picnic within the camp.
* And of course the most popular highlight in the Park is the breathtaking River Bend Overlook. The stone shelter was built in the 1930’s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
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“…so fantastically broken in form and so bizarre in color as to seem hardly properly to belong to this earth“.  Theodore Roosevelt

 Pictures in the North Unit – out of this world!

 

Devil’s Tower

Unbelievable! Even while right there looking at this thing, it is so hard to believe it is real. We took the 1.5 mile trail that circled the base of the Tower, then moved down a bit to do another hike, but that go thwarted by a hailstorm. Fantastic day.

 

Listening to nature was delightful today, especially on one side of the Tower where the trail meandered through a Ponderosa Pine Forest.

The sounds we hear in our national parks take us away from buzz of our daily lives and place us in the serene beauty of nature. In fact, 95% of Americans say one of the most important reasons for preserving national parks is to provide opportunities to experience natural peace and the sounds of nature. 

 

An Alien World 

What better way to illustrate a foreign landscape than with a tutu pic!

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First up today was a somber visit to the MinuteMan Missile National Historic Site. “The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used“, President Ronald Reagan. It was a MAD World (Mutually Assured Destruction).  It was an emotionally charged 60 minutes there.

Next up was the much anticipated Badlands National Park. This post is still in draft, as I’ve got to incorporate all of Jim’s stunning pics he took himself on his phone, but I’m so thrilled to share our sights today.  Panoramic scenery, Prairie Dogs, Bighorn Sheep, baby cows (awwww, they’re so cute!), cold cold winds, cloudy for the most part, but that didn’t damper it’s beauty whatsoever. This place shines bright.

 

Badlands Natl Park pics 
 UPDATED and current!