How diverse can one day be, we set of from Custer in a blanket of snow in the morning, we made a quick stop at a movie set 'Dances with Wolves', we visited Wall Drug, a store that is now much more than a pharmacy and then we reached our destination for the day - 'The Badlands'. The Lakota people were the first to call this place "mako sica" or "land bad." Extreme temperatures, lack of water, and the exposed rugged terrain led to this name. In the early 1900's, French-Canadian fur trappers called it "les mauvais terres pour traverse," or "bad lands to travel through." Hundreds of square miles of South Dakota are known as 'Badlands', a dry terrain of colourful rock formations and little vegetation. For pioneers crossing them in the 19th century, these lands were indeed 'bad', as there was little food or water. But for tourists in the 21st century, the Badlands are a unique and wonderful treat. The rock of the Badlands is made up of many layers, all lying flat (in contrast to the layers in mountainous areas, which are folded and tilted). The different colours of rock - yellow, white, red, black - reflect different conditions that prevailed over millions of years as the layers collected, one upon the other. We had seen photos of the Badlands but when we got there we were overwhelmed by the size of them and the unusual landscape. They seemed to go on for ever. Travelling through here in modern times (with an engine) is simple enough but for the early pioneers it must have been daunting. After stopping at one viewpoint after another and taking umpteen photos we looked for somewhere to park up for the night. We checked into a KOA campground - it really is the end of the season, the campground closes until May next year in 2 days time. Out of more than a hundred pitches there were only about a dozen occupied for the night - we had no problem finding a spot. We had hoped to hike through this unusual landscape the next day but passed on that. We couldn't beat the views we had already seen whilst driving, the trails varied from sandy to muddy to like porridge because of recent rain and we awoke to a gloomy sky. We had been warned about the terrain and advised that you need dry trails and good weather for a decent walk - firm underfoot and bright sunny weather to cheer up a landscape that can be depressing and intimidating on a grey day. So it was a whistle stop visit here but we were glad we had made the effort.