South Dakota

       Departing Mt. Rushmore, it was time to start heading back East. We swung through Rapid City for a quick meal at Sanford's Grub and Pub...then drove on to Ellsworth Air Force Base where we stayed for the night. With the arrival of another beautiful morning, it was time to jump back in the car for an hour trip east to the Minuteman National Historic Site. For you history buffs out there, in relatively plain view for decades stood the Minuteman Nuclear Missile Silos which could deliver death and destruction to the Soviet Union within half an hour. The shocking thing is that so few people knew about this and where the missiles were located. For miles on end, all you see is prairie and ranchland and some small non-descript looking buildings that look to house ranch or farm equipment. Little would the outsider know that in those complex of buildings lay missile silos capable of sending out missiles that could destroy the human race! They were literally hidden in plain view! Now credited by most historians as actually helping to preserve the peace through deterrence, the site has now become one of America's newest national historic sites. Unfortunately for us, the tour was booked that day and we could not see the whole complex...but we did see a free video and learn the fascinating story about the men and women that operated these silos.
      After our brief visit, we continued on a few more miles to the Badlands Park Entrance. Describing the Badlands in words hardly does it justice...it is best shown with the pics. I mean that is some Bad Land out there, and that's using every interpretation of "Bad" I know! It is one of those places where you scarcely can believe you are still on planet Earth...it has that otherworldly feel reminding me a bit of Iceland. After a bit of touring, we stopped into the cool visitor center for the film, "Land of Stone and Light." Many fossils have also been discovered here and they are on display at various points in the park. Getting hungry, we ducked out of the park at the south entrance to head to the nearby town of Interior...home to 67 people! Stopping at the Wagon Wheel Bar in town for some grub, we ran into some full-blooded Lakota Indians. Because there are so few full-blooded Indians left, I possibly have met that last of the Lakota...the proud tribe of Crazy Horse.   The Lakota, Ed Kills in Water, explained to me that now everyone is pretty much related somehow, so they will have to look outside the tribe for husbands and wives.
    After lunch, it was time to head back to the Park for the scenic Badlands Loop road. Several little mini-hikes provided us some great shots, we then finished up at Robert's Prairie Dog Town...where we saw no prairie dogs unfortunately, but did meet some German tourists who love our national parks.
    It is here where I must wind up our trip...we stayed in small Chamberlain SD that night and then hit the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell on our drive back to Wisconsin. Every year, SD artisans gather to decorate a new mural for the Corn Palace made entirely out of grass and different colors of corn husks. It is quite possibly the World's Largest Birdfeeder! Enjoy all the pics.

Minuteman National Historic Site

Badlands Overlook

Check that out!

Close-up of Ground

Peter standing out in the Badlands

Jaime out in the Badlands

Badlands as far as the eye can see

Black-billed Magpie

Jaime at Visitor Center

Lakota Indians!

City Jail

Interior Welcome Sign

Badlands Wall

Jaime on a hiking trail

Rock formation

Up the Notch

Notch overlook

Jaime chillin

Jaime across opening

Hermit Peter

Down the Notch

Another scenic view

Fossils along Fossil Trail

Late afternoon shot

Peter and Jaime at overlook

Where the Badlands meet the sky

Looking all Bad in the Badlands

Badlands colors

Mountain Goats

Roberts Prairie Dog Town

Corn Palace

Corny Jaime

      Departing the Legends in Lights laser show on Crazy Horse mountain, we drove the few short miles back into Custer to the Rocket Motel...a blast from the past! It is an American Roadside Classic, though I think Jaime felt a bit let down after staying in a bed and breakfast the night before. :-) We woke up early Thurs. morning to hit Custer State Park and the famed Wildlife loop. For outdoorsmen, Custer State Park is the stuff of dreams; it covers 71,000 acres in South Dakota's Black Hills filled with roaming bison, trout-filled mountain streams, soaring granite peaks beckoning climbers, and the howls of coyotes on starry nights. We were looking for critters and they did not disappoint. Right off the bat, we saw different types of deer, bison, pronghorns, wild turkey, prairie dogs, and even the elusive coyote. The Buffalo sure are majestic, we kept breaking into song.."O, give me a home, where the buffalo roam..." At one time, they even blocked the road and we had to wait till they slowly ambled past. Jaime's favorite probably were the prairie dogs...we came upon a whole little town! They make these interesting "bark" like noises as they communicate with each other. They took a liking to Jaime and she was able to get real close and get some spectacular shots.
       There's more to Custer though than the wildlife. After several hours of critter hunting, we were ready to get out of our car and stretch our legs. We browsed around the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center, and discovered that a cool hiking trail started right nearby. A 3.5 mile loop, it would take us high atop a ridge and wind its way through several creek crossings. Along the way, we came upon the famous Lover's Leap, so named because as legend has it, a pair of young Indian lovers leapt to their deaths from there many moons ago. The hike sure worked up our appetite, so we headed to the nearby State Game Lodge. This magnificient facility is also known as the Summer White House as Pres. Calvin Coolidge once spent several summer months there as well as a short visit by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Today, there are fancy state rooms named after Ike and Coolidge. The dining room serves us fabulous wild game, and I took great pleasure in downing some buffalo soup with a dinner of wild pheasant.
      Next came the 14 mile long, "Needles Highway," an incredible feat of engineering winding its way through hairpin curves and narrow granite tunnels to beautiful Sylvan Lake. From here, there are gorgeous views of the lake and nearby Harney Peak, the tallest mountain between the Rockies and the Pyrennees. The Needles Highway also passes by the Cathedral Spires, a series of pinnacles that resemble church spires and the famous granite formation, Needles Eye, that looks like the eye of a needle. Finally, there is one more road, the Iron Mountain Road also attributed to the vision of the late, great Peter Norbeck who was ultimately responsible for preserving this treasure for generations of Americans to come. His scenic byway connects the Park with Mt. Rushmore displaying the incredible beauty of the mountains and perfectly framing Mt. Rushmore through three granite tunnels. It is also one of the most fun roads I have ever driven on in my life. At times, the road splits into two separate one way sections, so you just have one way, one lane roads that resembles the yellow brick road winding your way through the sun-dappled forest. Just, absolutely gorgeous!
     We ended the day with a visit at Mt. Rushmore. As nice as it is, it really can't compare to the majesty of Crazy Horse. We got there too late to visit the museums, but we did have a nice walk on the Presidential Trail as sunset approached. Enjoy these pics, they are some of the most spectacular on this trip.