American Gam

“What is meant for you, will reach you, even if it is beneath two mountains. And what is not meant for you, will not reach you, even if it’s between your two lips.” ~ Unknown

One of my favorite music albums of all time is Pink Floyd’s, “The Wall” and now one of my favorite boondocking campsites of all time is The Wall. Located five miles south of the town of Wall in the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands of South Dakota, this premier viewpoint is the first stop for many campers before entering the Badlands National Park from the northeast. It offers expansive panoramic views of the Badlands. It features seventy off-grid dry-camping spots that all come with a scenic view with high-contrast rock formations and exceptional sunrises and sunsets. As you will see in the pictures The Wall is a natural barrier separating the upper and lower prairies in this region. This place is considered one of the best camping spots in America and it’s free!

We picked spot 22, set up camp, but found it to be too windy so we packed up and relocated to spot 67, which was just below the hill line and provided us with a vast green field for a front yard and a short walk to the edge of The Wall. Kodi would have loved this expansive, peaceful place.

The next morning I decided to go for a hike down into the lower prairie. I proceeded cautiously down this convoluted path, into the cracks and crevices, keeping an eye out for loose sand, falling rocks, Bighorn Sheep, Mountain Lions and, of course, your friend and mine, Mr. Rattlesnake.

Halfway down the labyrinthine path I discovered this, which some other adventurous soul intentionally left beside this small scrub bush…

On the front of the stone it reads: “Grow through what you go through.”

On the back is a permanent sticker that mentions a young boy of seventeen named Logan who passed away. This stone is a tribute to his legacy. Info about Logan and the various stones around the world can be found on Instagram @LogansLegacyRocks.

Once I stopped crying I realized the new path that this stone will take us on. Since we are going through our own painful loss of Kodi, we will embrace this stone and hopefully it will help us “grow through” what we are going through. 💔

We are going to keep this stone in our possession and take it with us on our travels. We will take pictures of it at places we travel to around the world to share with you and with Logan’s family.

We will do this not just in Logan’s honor but also in Kodi’s honor. The timing, the coincidence, the ridiculous odds that I would find this stone halfway down a cavernous path in the middle of the wide-open Badlands prairie are mind boggling and that I would find this stone just a few days after the passing of our beloved Kodi, with that particular sentiment painted on it, seems somewhat miraculous and awe-inspiring and somehow this stone is a talisman that sets us upon a path of healing from the loss of our Kodi-boy, while simultaneously helping to heal Logan’s family from their pain of loss. 💔

Here are some other pictures from that momentous hike…

I hope you discover small miracles in your life.

The gam continues…