World of Autism

We visited the Badlands National Park this morning, and as usual felt like we had dropped onto another planet:

This place is like no place I’ve ever seen before.  It’s amazing that things actually live out here, like deer, antelope, coyotes, eagles, and even praire dogs.  There are also rattle snakes, so we always wear closed  shoes and long pants, just in case.

This entire park is open for hiking and camping, and much of it is within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  We’ve camped there, and heard the lonely cry of the wind and the coyotes at night.

We came opon a very large prairie dog town (so large the Park service gave them their own sign!)  Those critters are the bane of farmers and ranchers, leaving holes big enough for a horse or cow (or person) to break an ankle in, and making it hard to run irrigation systems.

But they’re very willing to come right up to a car, looking for food:

Lucas seems to really enjoy driving through the Badlands, and even getting out of the car to hike some of the short trails that are strategically place along the way.  Maybe it has something to do with the quiet, or maybe he likes the huge sky, but it seems to calm him.

And of course, he loves watching the prairie dogs.

Tags: Traveling with autism. //