Headed west back to Olympia after the Ladies of Letterpress conference, I spent several hours driving through Badlands National Park in South Dakota. I wish I had more time, but I was in a hurry to get home. This was the second time I have driven through the park; the first time was back in 2001 while moving to Portland, OR. I had the fortune of camping a night the first time, and I remember the complete vastness of the night sky, having never seen so many stars in my life.

This time, I was able to see the park at end of June, as opposed to the beginning of August, so the landscape was still lush with green grasses instead of dried brown. The sky was dappled with big, white puffy clouds allowing the myriad colors of the canyon to appear between scorching sun breaks. Again, hiking the back country would be a dream. However, I’ve never felt such thirst in my life, as my water supply was exhausted halfway through my adventure. By the time I got to Wall Drug, all I could think about was ice cold water– which is exactly how they made their business thrive through the 30s, 40s and 50s. Free Ice Cold Water.