South Dakota - A National Wonderland

Our time in Wisconsin was brief, but we did get to see some interesting sites during our stay at the KOA. The most exciting and interesting one was this roof-mounted tent. I had never seen one before, and after watching the young couple climb down and out in the morning, I knew I could never entertain the thought of ever owning one. This is for the young and adventurous.

No welcome sign on the way into Minnesota, but we did get a fond farewell before we left.

A tiny chapel at the side of I-90 in Minnesota. Such an unexpected, yet welcoming sight.

The inside was heart-warming. I hope that those who sought guidance or comfort found it in this small space.

The Mount Rushmore State, (but so much more). Capitol is Pierre and largest city is Sioux Falls.

The Missouri River and the endless prairie throughout South Dakota.

Our first stop in South Dakota was Sioux City. It was just a one-night stop-over before Rapid City that had so many attractions we wanted to see. 

The drive to Rapid City was long, boring and exhausting. Even though, we decided to stop at Badlands National Park. Badlands was originally slated to be a one week stop, but when I needed to shorten our trip, this one and Yellowstone took the hit. We thought it would be too big a stop to fit in with Mt. Rushmore and Wind Cave the following day, but we found our second wind as soon as we took a look at the awesome views. I must have snapped about 200 photos and had a difficult time choosing only a favorite few to upload to this entry. Since photos can never capture the essence of the moment, I decided to take a couple of videos and uploaded the best of that bunch, as well.

Washed out photos due to bright sunshine and me using my iPad.

Amazing views.

Rocks and rock-climbing...

Of course, the day we visited the Badlands, it turned out to be the hottest one we've experienced so far, so hiking was out of the question, but we did stroll around to get up close and personal with a few rock formations,

Wow. Little Miss in the hot, hot sun. Good thing for the generator, which kept Miss Lucy cool.

Breathtaking views.

All along I-90 we kept seeing signs for "Wall Drug," after about the 25th billboard, we decided that if time permitted, we would just pop in and look around.  A quick phone call to the campground assured me we had plenty of time, we just needed to muster the energy. We figured that we were so close that a few minutes wouldn't really matter, besides, they had homemade donuts, 5 cent coffee and free ice water, according to three of their road signs. George got three donuts and we called it a day. We just couldn't enjoy all the shops and kitchy souvenirs knowing we still needed to "set up camp" and eat dinner. 

The next day, we found ourselves surrounded by motorcycles in and around Rapid City. It turned out that our visit coincided with the "Official Sturgis Bike Rally." I've never seen so many motorcycles in one place at one time as I did the two days we spent here. The bikes revved all through the streets, campground, National Parks and highways. I was able to get a video clip of that too, because a picture couldn't do it justice. 

Sturgis Bike Rally

Our first stop in Rapid City found us at Wind Cave National Park, located in Interior, SD. I'm more of the spelunker of us two, but George ended up enjoying the park and cave tour as much, or maybe even more, than I did. The Park Ranger asked for a volunteer to be the last person to enter the cave, to be the "caboose," and George volunteered. He had to introduce himself and everyone knew "George" was pulling up the rear. Each time we assembled in a large area of the cave, the others in the tour would ask if George was there yet - if so, every one else was and the Park Ranger could begin her talk.

The original entrance to the cave, located at about 9:00, where the wind "breathed in or out," It was strong enough to blow your hat off or suck it down the hole.  

The name, Wind Cave, comes from the Lakota People who considered the cave to be sacred. They believed the wind blowing in or out (depending upon barometric pressure), was the breathing of "Spirit Lodge," where the earth "breathes inside."  They believed that deep within the passageway was the portal to the Spirit Lodge and the spirit world. 

Although there was no record or evidence that the Native Lakota's explored the cave, it was sad to learn they lost it to the South Dakota Mining Company who purchased the land in search of gold. No gold was ever found, so the land was left in the hands of a caretaker, J.L. McDonald.  J.L.'s son, Alvin, at age 16 began exploring and mapping trails. All the trails he discovered are the same ones visitors get to visit today, except with cement walkways, railings and LED lighting.  To learn more about Alvin McDonald through his own diary, click HERE.

Alvin McDonald decided that the cave was too beautiful to keep a secret, so at age 20, he went to Chicago to promote tourism. While there, he contracted Typhoid and died before his 21st birthday.

I'd like to think we made it to the spirit lodge and glimpsed the spirit world, if even only for the length of our one-hour tour. 

This cave was different from any I had ever seen before. No stalactites or stalagmites here, just an amazing combination of Popcorn, Frostwork and Boxwork. This cave contains 95% of Boxwork in the world. The other 5% is scattered among several other caves in South Dakota. Boxwork - depicted to the right.

Here are a few more photos of Wind Cave National Park, the place we have seen the most wildlife so far. 

Prairie dogs. Try to click on and enlarge. They were so darn cute.

The Black Hills of South Dakota. 

Close enough to smell......lol  A gentle-seeming, huge, beautiful bison.

Herd of buffalo

Finally, around 4:30 pm, we made it to Mt. Rushmore. We were beginning to run out of time and energy at this point, but "we came, we saw, we took 120 photos." This park is best visited either in the morning or at 9 pm, when the monument is illuminated.  It was impressive, patriotic and moving.

"Where's Washington." Can you find him?

Despite the fact that this portion of the trip was shortened from 7 days to two, I think we got to accomplish quite a bit. We would love to return in order to take our time through the Black Hills and re-visit the Badlands. The Rapid City area has so much to offer that you really need at least a week.

Next blog: Why Wyoming and Montana...My appologies for the reflection of Lucy's food bowl and "bug guts" on the windshield that were quite apparent in the videos and a few photos. Also, forgive any typos. This was a long blog and the first night I've had decent wifi to get it all uploaded and organized. I hope you enjoyed reading....

Deep thought for the day:  "Knowledge is rooted in all things—the world is a library." ~ Lakota Proverb