South Dakota!

Blog #10

Our first stop in South Dakota was Jewel Cave National Monument. The tours were already full by the time we got there, but they had such a wonderful information center we couldn't be too disappointed. The picture above shows how vast this cave system is! We definitely want to come back for a tour!

The Black Hills of South Dakota are some of the prettiest landscape I've ever seen, and it's rolling green hills look perfect for motorcycling. No wonder Sturgis became so popular! We also tried to stop at the Crazy Horse Memorial, but the line to get in was daunting, so we didn't see that either. Below, you can see the memorial in the distance. Sigh.

On to Mount Rushmore National Memorial: third time's the charm! We wind our way further up the mountain. These rocks are so strange!

The flags are from all 50 states.

Who would have thought these rocks could be carved without breaking into dozens of pieces?

The original mountainside!

Mount Rushmore was carved from 1927 to 1941. The information center is a treasure trove of knowledge and history. They also claim that Thomas Jefferson invented ice cream. If so, that's a good enough reason to carve his face!

Yes, we had to have ice cream while we were here :). Below is a picture of the original plan, showing the presidents to their waists. In 1927 they thought the project would take 5 years and cost $500,000. Fourteen years later the cost was $1,000,000. With the death of sculptor Gutzon Borglum and approaching involvement in WWII, the memorial was declared finished on October 31, 1941.

What an amazing place for only a $10 parking fee!

Our trailer was too big for this tunnel, so we're glad we didn't have to go that way to Rapid City. We stayed at the American Buffalo Resort campground (which is now called the HTR Black Hills), and it was very close to Bear Country USA! This was a great campground--with a pool and Jacuzzi!--for $42.

It was early enough in the day, so we decided to drive through Bear Country USA. (We should have tried to get there first thing in the morning!) Traffic moved slowly at first, but then became a very slow crawl-and-stop. We were complaining until we saw the huge amount of black bears wandering through the cars! The bears were awesome, and even better was the walk-through area where they had the baby bears, wolf cubs and many other kinds of animals!

September 3, 2018: Reptile Gardens!

When I was 12 years old, my family took a trip from Minnesota to Idaho. As we passed through Rapid City, I spied the signs for Reptile Gardens. I wanted to stop then, but we were on a schedule. So 40+ years later, I finally got to stop: it was worth the wait! Their rates vary depending on the time of year, but they are reasonable whenever you go.

One pleasant surprise was that Reptiles Gardens is pet friendly! Nikki and Teddy enjoyed the beautiful gardens and getting to sniff a tortoise!

There are several different shows featuring birds, snakes, crocs and gators:

Check out the grin on this big guy!

The Prairie Dog Town gives you a rodents-eye view!

Beautiful flowers are everywhere!

There are fun photo ops too!

The Sky Dome is beautiful, with many exhibits:

After visiting Reptile Gardens, we packed up and headed to Badlands National Park. This is a very desolate area of South Dakota. I can't imagine what early travelers thought of this place!

We saw a Bison and some Bighorn Sheep!

We weren't impressed by how crowded together the Badland Campground was, so we opted for boondocking. There was a beautiful sunset and sunrise!

September 4, 2018

Today is my former students first day of school. It seems so weird not to have a job anymore, but I'm not complaining 😁. As we left Badlands National Park, we stopped at Prairie Homestead, a historic sod house.

We passed the World's Largest Pheasant in Huron, SD!

We traveled until we got to De Smet, South Dakota, the home of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead. She was the author of the Little House books. This is where she lived By the Shores of Silver Lake starting in 1879. We got there just before closing, and they invited us to walk the grounds and dry camp in their parking lot for only $10! I love her books, and it was so interesting spending some time here!