South Dakota

Enter the Black Hills of South Dakota. Sturgis was hopping and it was 5 days before the rally. Massive amounts of motorcyles are converging on the area. They come from all over the country with their shiny crome and interesting little pull behinds.

Then it was over to Deadwood, an interesting Old West Town with many casinos so Austin could get chips for his collection. Again, motorcycles everywhere. Lots of interesting sites in both towns. Great people watching.

Visited Mount Rushmore early in the morning, way before the crowds arrived. Austin was mad that they didn't acccept his Golden Age Pass and he had to pay $10 to park.

On the way back to camp to pick up Rigley we saw our first up close mountain goat.

We headed over to the Crazy Horse Memorial.

The monument is many years from completion but the visitor center/museum was a great place. Lots of history, flags, and Indian artifacts. The tee-pee and displays were wonderful.

The rest of our day was spent driving the Needles Highway through Custer State Park.
Loved the many tunnels and rock formations.

We continued to drive through Custer SP. , Needles Hwy connected with the Wildlife Loop. Came upon a large herd of bison and along with several other vehicles and picture takers, we found ourselves surrounded by the many large animals. Many photo opportunities and laughs. A very young
bison came right up to the car and and went nose to nose with Rigley. He then tried to come in my open door.

Next morning we were up and on our way early. Our first stop was at Wall Drug. This is one of those tourist places that have billboards up and down the highways calling you in. It was a place to stop and get a crazy fix.

The Town of Wall, the gateway to the Badlands National Park. Another enjoyable scenic loop. Some of the colors and stripes made me think of candy corn. The pictures don't show the true colors.

In the Badlands there were many Prairie Dog Towns. These little guys are a lot of fun to watch but are hard to get pictures of because they are so quick. Rigley was sure he could play with them if we would only let him out of the car.

Traveled through Minnesota today but not before stopping at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

The first Corn Palace was built in 1892 to showcase the crops grown in the area. Each year a new decorating theme is chosen for the outside of the building. They strip off all the old stuff and start again. Each ear of corn is cut in half lengthwise and nailed in place. Twelve different colors of corn are used in the decorating. The murals inside and out were very intricate, brought back memories of our Tournament of Roses float decorating days, 3 years ago.

Last stop of the day,The Mall of America. Four stories of stores surround a large amusement park. The rides were fun to watch and very unique.