Day 5: Keep Pushin' till it's Understood, These Badlands Start Treating Us Good...
So as any avid Bruce Springsteen aficionado would attest to, there are a handful of locations that every true Springsteen fan would like to travel to, such as Kingsley Avenue or the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, perhaps the famed Cadillac ranch, or even "that place where we really wanna go (where) we'll walk in the sun". However, few would say that Badlands National Park, which likely does nothing more than share a name with the hit song off of Springsteen's Darkness On the Edge of Town album aptly titled Badlands, is a place they would like to pilgrimage to. However, nothing was more appropriate on day five then the title of this post/lyrics of the song, as we pushed and pushed and pushed, across Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, and when we finally arrived boy did the Badlands treat us... well. Even in the 103+ degree temperatures it was breezy and comfortable with the most dry of heat that neither Michelle or myself had ever experienced. We spent quite some time exploring the park and all that it had to offer, with its Mars-like landscape and breathtaking views it is as unique as a place can get. To close with one final Springsteen reference (sorry, I have to take what I can get) there is a line in the song that goes as follows "talk about a dream, try to make it real" which could not relate any better to this voyage that we are on; for so long Michelle and I talked about this dream trip, trying no matter what to make it real, and now we have together and we could not be having a better time!