Awesome South Dakota

Driving through South Dakota was absolutely beautiful, even  on an overcast day.  I entered the Black Hills and made an unexpected stop at the Wind Cave National Park. 

 The Wind Cave greets you with a gusty burst of air at the entrance, giving the cave its name.  This intricate cave is filled with over 135 miles of discovered passages.  The boxwork is amazing to see covering the ceilings and walls.  This cave became National Park in 1903, but actually dates back to having been formed over 300 million years ago!  I took a brief tour down into a couple of rooms of the cave and was blown away by all of the ins and outs and different formations.  On the way out of the park I actually spotted two bison grazing on a grassy hill!

Drove to Mt Rushmore... way awesome.  It's unreal how the monument was created: the dynamite, the men suspended from above, the chisels, drills, etc.  Fascinating process. 

 

 

By the time I got up to it, the temp got so so cold but I still wandered around all of the grounds.  The Presidential Trail was closed off due to icy patches but a ranger allowed me to take the walk as long as I didn't fall on the ice and break my ankle.

I got some really good shots of the monument and froze my fingers at the same time.  Watched a video in the information center, walked by the sculptor's studio (closed), and headed back towards the car to thaw out.  On the walk back, I spotted mountain goats hanging out behind the building up front- big, white, shaggy goats :)

 

I saw the sculpted mountain just in time because as I was leaving, the fog thickened so much that I could barely make out George Washington any longer.

Onward towards the Badlands.  No way was I going to hike in the 20-degree weather so I took the incredible scenic loop drive through out the park.  Deer frolicking around on the hills... all different grassy colors rolling as far back as you could see: mostly golds, but black, reds, and purples giving the landscape so much depth.  So, I was excited when I saw two bison earlier... I encountered an entire herd in the Badlands!! They were so close!

 

The Badlands were everything I hoped it would be- a sight for sore eyes.  Warm tones that start from the field and reach back into the canyonous areas.  I was cruising from one lookout point to the next, sprinting in and out of the car to snap photos, eyes tearing up in the wind.

On the way through the National Park, I stopped for some hot chocolate in the town of Interior, population 67.  A little place called the Cowboy Corner that sells snacks, coffee, and has a dinner table where a nice older lady serves dinner to the passing tourists and hunters.  She even has a little area of blackjack and poker machines separated by a couple saloon doors, labeled "Casino", in the corner.
Now for Wall and Mitchell... so much in South Dakota, so little time left.

The Wall Drug area was so vacant during this off season, it was hard to believe it is a tourist trap!  Wall drug was open, but the surrounding shops were closed for the season.  It was cool to wander through all of the little stores- from food to gems to fudge to clothing, souvenirs, a cafe, and a chapel.  Robotic bands playing country music, stuffed buffalo and jackaloupe heads along the walls, 5-cent coffee and free ice water...  a very interesting place, to say the least.

 

Oh, and don't forget the 80 ft dinosaur off of the I-90 exit!  Its red eyes light up at night, flashing visitors in.

On the way out of South Dakota, heading east on I-90, one must stop in Mitchell to break up the long stretch of a drive.  Why Mitchell?  They have the world's only corn palace. 

That's right, a corn palace.  Since 1892, the people of Mitchell decorate this building each year with over 300,000 ears of corn, making murals and things.  It was originally done to draw farmers in to the town, and now it's become a tradition and tourist location.  Plenty of antique stores and souvenir shops thrive on the traffic of people coming to check out the murals of corn on this structure.
      I know, pretty corny ;)
but enough horsin' around... I have a long drive ahead...