Sign up for our free newsletter:

 1 of 3

I want my boys to look back on our travels together and remember me as one tough Road Warrior; a man whose wits allowed him to make the world—or at least the interstate—his oyster. A man worthy to be admired.

There's probably no better place for a dad to develop his reputation as a first-rate frontier father than the American West.

The American West. Rugged. Desolate. Not for the faint-hearted or dull-minded. An environment that only a man's man would dare face. A hostile environment that only a man's man could conquer. Just the place to show Andrew and Kevin my true mettle. It would be minivan against nature.

And so we made our way to the foothills of the Tetons, coursed the Snake River, and explored sections of Yellowstone National Park far off the beaten paths.

I served as wise guide and leader, telling my family the history of each region and explaining the forces of nature that gave shape to all we were seeing.

Not that I naturally knew any of this, mind you. It's just that I was usually the one who was handed the informational literature when we entered each attraction. A quick read and, presto, I became the expert!

"Hey, Dad, what causes water to shoot out as a geyser?"

"Good question, Son." With that I'd surreptitiously pull out the appropriate pamphlet, peruse its content, then turn toward my questioning son and deliver an answer that would make even a park ranger envious.

"Son, a geyser is formed due to the pressure created by tectonic shifts beneath the earth's surface, which, in turn, superheat the water."

"Gee, Dad, thanks."

"No problem."

By the time we got to Badlands National Park in South Dakota, I could only imagine how impressed—and proud—Andrew and Kevin were of their frontier father.

If you've ever wondered what the moon was like but didn't have government backing to fly there yourself, then let me suggest a few days in the Badlands. Its crusty, dusty cliffs and pinnacles of dried mud eerily replicate a lunar landscape, as does the park's uniform color of grayish-brown. The only difference, as far as I can see, is the atmosphere, which in the Badlands is more suited to shorts and a tank-top.

We arrived in this other-world near the close of another hot July day. After checking into our motel, we eschewed our usual trek to the information center. Who needs an informational "crib sheet" here? I thought. It's just a lot of dried mud.

We started our grand adventure at the "Door Trail," so called because of a narrow, winding passageway through two huge mud hills that leads to an endless vista of Badland mounds. We parked our van in a small, natural amphitheater a few hundred yards in front of the "door." Tall mud mounds surround the amphitheater's circumference, with one smaller mound smack-dab in the center.

next page... |  1 of 3

share this page

	We'd really like to know what you think about this article!
	Is this the kind of article you'd like to see more of? Is there a topic you'd like us to cover? Please send your response to

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

FREE MomSense Newsletter Subscribe to the MomSense Newsletter    RSS Feed   RSS Help