Friendly people, the prarie and pencils!

Just got back from a trip to South Dakota with Christin. We had a great time--driving our giant Suburban around, stopping randomly for wildlife, soaking in the prairie. We met up with the ferret folks for the 30th anniversary of black-footed ferret rediscovery in Meeteetse, WY. It was fun watching the playful ferrets released into prairie dog holes for their first meal. The group of scientists and land managers who have spent their careers dedicated to bringing these rare mammals back from the brink of extinction. Also got to meet some people who put conversation to practice on their own land and create their own small sanctuaries for native species. Of course I also did drag Christin along as we saw some of the paleontological and geological highlights of Badlands NP, thanks to Matt!

Back to the title of this post. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Rapid City something was different. People were so kind and friendly and deferential. If I was walking too fast (I have a problem with this) and cut someone off, they were the one apologizing to me. It made quite an impression on me. People in the Midwest really are friendlier!! We also had a couple of random conversations with strangers at viewpoints where we would talk for 10 or 15 minutes and they were so impressed we worked for the park service and we were happy they were enjoying their vacation and it was just lovely.

The prairie...I had forgotten how much I love the prairie. My first experience with it was in Nebraska, on my two week trip around the northern part of the state visiting paleontological sites, helping sift for fossils and scan for fossils and grid out and excavate for fossils. The sandhills was totally my favorite part of the trip. The gently rolling hills and softly moving grasses are such a contrast to my harsh yet still beautiful landscape out here. It was nice to visit somewhere a little less intense. It was a nice time of year to visit, too. We saw some great sunsets, light catching on the grasses.

And finally...pencils. It was odd, but it seemed like everywhere we went, instead of just sticker machines and gum ball machines, there were pencil machines. Maybe this is because South Dakotans are much more studious or more wholesome or something. But at Badlands, at restaurants, everywhere you could get pencils. Go Wall Eagles!! =)