Hello everybody! I'm here to tell you, that's right YOU (all you out there on the computer!), about my stop in South Dakota.
First, we drove over to Badlands National Park. Badlands National Park has small mountains made of sand and rocks called buttes. In addition to buttes, Badlands is also famous for its is fossils. The fossils are pretty easy to find because rain (and other kinds of erosion like wind) wash away sand and rock revealing fossils. Badlands is filled with mammal fossils, not dinosaur fossils, because it used to be an ocean and dinosaurs lived on land.
Surprisingly, Badlands is not famous for rabbits, but we sure did see a lot of them! They were everywhere. There was even a family of rabbits living under our cabin. Speaking of rodents, we saw prairie dogs. Prairie dogs live under ground and burrow. We also saw buffalo (or bison), which travel in huge packs called herds and at one point, were almost hunted to extinction. Strangely enough, we saw a camel on a cattle farm (notice we were in the prairie, not a desert), which we all thought was very random.
Now onto something that doesn't have to do with animals. We went to a ranger talk about the night sky. Did you know that any time now a star called Betelgeuse (pronounced like "beetle juice") is going to go supernova (or explode) and the scientists are predicting that we'll have two suns in our sky for one to two months! We also found out that the moon is actually drifting further away from the earth by an inch a year and in 1,000 years, we won't have it anymore. But don't worry, you won't be around then.
First, we drove over to Badlands National Park. Badlands National Park has small mountains made of sand and rocks called buttes. In addition to buttes, Badlands is also famous for its is fossils. The fossils are pretty easy to find because rain (and other kinds of erosion like wind) wash away sand and rock revealing fossils. Badlands is filled with mammal fossils, not dinosaur fossils, because it used to be an ocean and dinosaurs lived on land.
Surprisingly, Badlands is not famous for rabbits, but we sure did see a lot of them! They were everywhere. There was even a family of rabbits living under our cabin. Speaking of rodents, we saw prairie dogs. Prairie dogs live under ground and burrow. We also saw buffalo (or bison), which travel in huge packs called herds and at one point, were almost hunted to extinction. Strangely enough, we saw a camel on a cattle farm (notice we were in the prairie, not a desert), which we all thought was very random.Now onto something that doesn't have to do with animals. We went to a ranger talk about the night sky. Did you know that any time now a star called Betelgeuse (pronounced like "beetle juice") is going to go supernova (or explode) and the scientists are predicting that we'll have two suns in our sky for one to two months! We also found out that the moon is actually drifting further away from the earth by an inch a year and in 1,000 years, we won't have it anymore. But don't worry, you won't be around then.
We also visited Custer State Park. The night we arrived, we went to Mount Rushmore to see it lit up by the night skies. The next morning we
went to go see some more animals, like buffalo (it is my favorite
animal so far). Also, we saw other animals like donkeys, deer, and all
different kinds of birds. We went to Wind Cave, a cave made out of
limestone and other kinds of crystals. After Wind Cave, we went to an
old ghost town called "Four Mile," a town discovered,
cleaned up, and turned into a museum about life in the late 1800s.
That same night, we saw a rare sight -- a herd of elk with about 100 females and only two males. The next morning, my Dad and I woke up early to go back to Mount Rushmore. We went on the hiking trail, which gave us good views of the monument. It was nice to go in the morning because there weren't as many people.
Me at Mount Rushmore!
Now on to our next stop, Wyoming.
'Till then
That same night, we saw a rare sight -- a herd of elk with about 100 females and only two males. The next morning, my Dad and I woke up early to go back to Mount Rushmore. We went on the hiking trail, which gave us good views of the monument. It was nice to go in the morning because there weren't as many people.
Me at Mount Rushmore!
Now on to our next stop, Wyoming.'Till then
I have heard stories about people being able to see mount Rushmore from at least 10 miles away, is that true? If not how far away was mount Rushmore when it first came into view? Like I said in one of my previous posts, you always coincidently see some of the most bizarre and/or unique forms of animals…- prairie dogs, buffalo, and other unique animals. To answer your question, yes I did know that one day a star would explode and we would have two suns in the sky, but no, I did not know that the name of this unique star was Betelgeuse, also the answer to your other question about the moon slowly drifting away from its home on Earth is hilarious and no, I did not know that, but I am glad that I wont be around to experience the dark sky at night.