Our first stop was the Badlands. The landscape looked like Mars! We could have spend days hiking in the area, but we had to settle for a few hours of sightseeing. Here are some pics from our time in the Badlands:
A bighorn sheep!:
After exploring the Badlands, we stopped in the town of Wall. We had seen countless billboards advertising the Wall Drug Store so we had to stop and see what all the fuss is about. It is definitely a bustling and fun tourist trap, and I was glad to see all the activity since the owners used to pray for just one customer a day when they opened during the Depression in 1931. We window shopped, sampled one of their famous donuts, ate some lunch, and even took on Chuck Norris and lived to tell the tale!
After lunch we decided that priority number one was choosing our campsite for the evening. We chose Sylvan Lake. Not too shabby!!
We set up camp so that we could head out for the rest of the day and just crash when we came home.
Our next destination was the unfinished Crazy Horse Memorial. Started in 1948, it remains a work in progress. It is a tribute to Native American History and culture. The sculptor was asked to create the memorial by several Native American chiefs, and he died before the massive project could be completed. The sculptor's family is trying to carry on the sculptor's wishes to construct the memorial without any government money, so they have constructed a museum containing Native American history.
After Crazy Horse we were headed for the Needles Highway. But first, we made a stop at an antique shop we found along the way. A perfect setting for the tv show American Pickers, we enjoyed wandering through the cluttered aisles. The 83 year old owner was hilarious, although I wish he would have warned us about the very very very old donkey wandering the aisles with us! He gave us a little scare and then wouldn't stop following Kevin. Click here to see our encounter with the donkey: http://youtu.be/BWzxzci3hHo
With a few newly acquired antique Ball jars and an old animal trap in tow, we set out for the Needles highway. The highway is named for the way the granite juts into the sky. It was a winding road, and I'm glad Kevin was the one behind the wheel.
From the Needles Highway we headed for the Wildlife Loop in Custer State park. We saw plenty of wildlife, including:
Antelope
Buffalo
And my favorite...donkeys!! These donkeys were released into the wildlife area after they stopped giving tours to the top of Mt Harney, and boy are they friendly!!!
We had saved some apple cores to share with the donkeys, so we were quite popular! To see a video of one of the donkeys eating an apple from our car, click here: http://youtu.be/kx3m6zxkQWA
Our last stop for the evening was Mount Rushmore. Every summer night at 9pm they host a lighting ceremony, so we timed our visit so that we could see it. Mount Rushmore is a sight you have to see to believe, and even then it is hard to believe!
I love this quote from the sculptor of Mt Rushmore. I plan to share it with future students:
By the time the lighting ceremony was over exhaustion began to set in, so we headed back to our camp where Kevin prepared some yummy Mountain House spaghetti and meat sauce. Then we fell into a deep sleep.
As I write this we are driving through Spearfish canyon on our way to today's destinations- Sturgis (home of the famous motorcycle rally) and Deadwood (site of Wild Bill Hickock's murder during a card game). We stopped at a diner for breakfast and are looking forward to another fun day!
More updates coming soon!
The Badlands and Black Hills of Western SD have easily become favorites of ours and we always will stop at Wall Drug (the tourists are bad.... but it's Wall, it's hilarious). It's an easy 2-3 day drive - highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteMt. Rushmore at night is awesome.