We woke up to the sound of trucks driving down the I-90 and sun beginning to hit our tent. It was going to be another very hot day. We had a quick breakfast of eggs and cereal. While Katherine cleaned up, packed up our tent, and had the kids burn off some energy, I headed down the road into Sioux Falls for supplies and groceries for the next few days as we head into the Badlands. We needed hats for the kids who had already lost a couple hats, broom to sweep out the tent that was starting to get sandy, more propane bottles, some headphones for the kids, and replacement shower sandals for Mia. The Walmart was a super centre and was incredible large, and it took a while to get everything we needed.
Once back at the camp site, we finished loading up the van. Things were starting to go downhill with everyone being hot and hungry, so we had a quick bite before heading out on the road for our 4 hour drive to the Badlands.
The drive was very easy, a flat and straight divided highway most of the way. We started to climb on the elevation and were now at around 1300ft. The speed limit then increased from 70 miles/hr to 80 miles/hr. That’s around 125km/hr! Billboards are extremely effective and popular along this stretch of the highway as there is not much else to see in the flat plains. One brewery had an actual vintage firetruck parked at their bill boards for what was probably several hundred kilometres. There must have been at least 20 or more of these firetrucks along the side of the highway. We made good time despite the late start, and after 2.5 hours or so we stopped at a rest stop for a bathroom break and some food. It was hot outside, and the sun was very strong. The Badlands are typically very dry and do not get a lot of rainfall during the year. Katherine and I were even discussing how nice it was going to be to not have to worry about camping in the rain on the drive. However the sky was starting to look ominous in the direction we were driving. Another 45 min or so and we arrived at the town of 1880 (which was also advertise through bill boards for several hundred kilometres).
The collection of old original cowboy buildings from the 19th century is a tourist attraction and entrance fees are required, but the man at the entrance said “let me save you some money” and let two of our kids in for free, which was much appreciated as (things really add up when you are family of 5! It was neat to see how small some of the houses were from that era. The saloon was completely maintained top to bottom and was very impressive, and they had a full working bar set up inside, a stage, and a lot of tables. They even had original bullet holes of the saloon on display. It would have been a neat place to grab a couple drinks. The old school house was also well preserved, and had a massive furnace to keep the small classroom warm for those bitter winters (most of the buildings appeared to have had no insulation).
We started to get a little concerned of the potential storm. Out in the prairies we were very exposed, and knew some of the storms could get very serious. We kept checking the wether forecasts and it looked like we would make it to the badlands in time.
As we got off the highway there was a national monument for a US defence missile site from the Cold War era. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for a visit as it was getting close to 4:30PM at this point. As we headed towards the badlands the landscape changed dramatically, and we were in absolutely awe. Incredible view of the badlands as far as the eye could see. We entered the national park and stopped at the first look out. Out in the distance we were starting to see lightning from the storm. We didn’t stay too long and headed to our campground that was a short drive away. Unfortunately the visitor centre had closed at 5PM.
As we checked into the campground, we noted a lot of tent campers which was quite rare for campgrounds. By this point we knew we didn’t have a lot of time before the storm hit, so we decided to set up our tent quickly and throw our sleeping bags and cloth bins in so we could come back to the tent later and hunker down for the evening. We also noted some of the camp sites near us were completely submerged in water and were out of commission. So much for the dry Badlands! Also the mosquitoes were relentless despite the wind and being out in the open. Katherine and I had encountered what we called “the prairie mosquitoes” before on our bike trip. They are the absolute worst.
The campground was very exposed with almost no trees, and had no picnic shelter (only individual sun shade for each picnic tables on each site). We saw what looked like a picnic shelter just outside the campground on our way in and decided to head there to cook dinner and be sheltered from what we expected would be a short lived thunderstorm (as they usually are).
We quickly made hamburgers and as we started to eat the storm hit. Strong winds and heavy rain, and thunder and lightning all around. The shelter just had one big table, no chairs or a picnic table, but had a solid roof and two concrete walls that was sheltering us from the wind and rain quite well. There was also a lodge around the corner we could head to if we needed to. While we were sheltered eating dinner, lightning stuck about 50m away at likely one of the few near by trees. It was the closest we have ever been to a lightning strike.
We decided it would be best to head to the lodge, so we quickly finished up dinner and packed up and drove to the lodge around the corner. We felt safe once inside the lodge lobby, and it felt a little surreal as people seemed to be just going about their normal day inside. We decided to hang out in the lobby until the storm passed. They had a nice national park camp store and we picked up sun hats for everyone.
The storm had passed after about an hour and the rain subsided. According to the weather forecast more rain was headed our way for 9PM, so we had about an hour to get ready for bed and into our tent. We drove back to the campground to find our tent looking a little rough. We assessed the damage and one of the poles had been bent in half. Aside from that everything else seemed ok and the inside of the tent was dry. We had never had a tent get damaged before, but Katherine and I had camped for 6 months on our bike trip in a 3 person tent that was much more protected from winds than the 8 person tent we were now using. Thankfully we were also carrying a 6 person tent also from Marmot, which used the identical poles so we were able to switch out the damaged tent pole right away. Otherwise it would have been a long night and also a definite headache for our trip. Phew!
I took the three kids to have a shower, however, there was much drama as the women’s showers lights did not work. Also the showers only had hooks on the outside of the shower stall. In the end I stood outside outside the shower stall as the three kids navigated the need to use quarters to shower, and accidentally dropping their towels/pajamas and the wet bathroom floor..
Katherine had a shower with a flashlight, and apparently there was also only lukewarm water for the women’s showers. We got back to the tent as the rain started again. I was going to head to the showers myself but only made it to inside the van as the rain got very heavy. I quickly brushed my teeth, and gave up heading to the shower and went to the tent.
By this point Katherine was doing her best to keep the tent from collapsing as the strong winds viciously shook our tent. We both had to keep our entire focus on bracing the tent poles so that our tent wouldn’t blow away or get completely destroyed. We even needed Ryo to help keep one corner of the tent. Thunder and lightning was going off all around us and we knew we were in a bad situation. It was around 9:40pm and our options were either get everyone in the van and give up on the tent and everything we had inside or do our best to protect the tent. We were managing to keep the tent together so decided we would try to ride out the storm that should be short lived. It was however not great standing up holding metal tent poles inside our tent as the thunderstorm was going through. By this point it was about 9:40pm. The winds would die down slightly then suddenly pick up again. It was very touch and go and I wasn’t sure our tent was going to make it. We had clearly lost two corner pegs of the small bedroom portion of the tent and I was standing there bracing the poles with my whole body while Katherine braced another section. Ryo went back and forth between his sleeping bag and the corner pole depending on how bad things were, complaining he just wanted to go bed and not really comprehending the situation.Toby was getting excited and jumping around and Mia was lying in her sleeping bag listening to her audio book and staring at us hold the tent back. I am not sure what they were thinking but I felt a sense of guilt to have put them in this situation that they had no control over.
It went off and on for about an hour and the whole time Katherine and I couldn’t let our guard down as the winds would just suddenly pick up at a moment’s notice. Our bodies were starting to stiffen up from being in the same position for so long. Not even a week into our trip and I thought the maiden voyage of our brand new Marmot tent was over. The kids were so tired they all eventually fell asleep. Once we were sure the storm had passed and the winds died down around 10:45pm, Katherine and I headed out and assessed the damage. Katherine first went out and said “Adam you have to come out and see this”. It didn’t sound good. However what Katherine meant was the sky all around us. Off in the distance, 360 degrees all round us, was constant flashes that were non-stop. Thankfully, and amazingly, the tent appeared to be ok. We had to we re-peg everything but there was no other damage other then perhaps a few ever so slightly poles with a bend. I am not sure how the tent fabric held up. Katherine and I felt a great sense of relief that we had somehow survived the ordeal.
We were both mentally and physically exhausted at this point. Katherine went to bed and I decided I could finally go have a shower. On my walk to the shower building I noticed many other tenters who gave up and were huddled in their vehicles. Some tents appeared to have lost their tarps. A little bit of an exaggeration but it was like a scene from a disaster movie. I recalled a review of the campground that I had read before arriving that it was a great spot except when a storm hits. That person’s tent apparently got completely destroyed in a storm. It was really terrible that there was no storm shelter for this popular tent campground. That being said, rain, let alone vicious storms, are supposedly rare for this very dry area, but when they do hit, they are really bad.
As I fell asleep, the winds died down as if nothing had happened. In all the nights Katherine and I had tent camped before during our entire lives, we had never experience what we just experienced in our first night in the Badlands.
Trip Around The World 
Sounds like a crazy storm. I’m so glad your tent (and all of you) survived!
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