I probably would not have normally thought to drive through Custer State Park. With so much to see in the Black Hills, sometimes state parks get overlooked. Located in the Black Hills area, this Park could easily be part of the National Park system. You'll need to take your time going through the Park because there are a number of winding roads as you climb through the Black Hills and there are plenty of one vehicle rock tunnels as well. Many of the tunnels have views through them of Mount Rushmore. The star of the Park, in my opinion, is the [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Black Hills have so much to explore. As someone who loves waterfalls, I had heard about Thunderhead Falls which was supposedly an underground waterfall. Figured it was worthy of a stop to see exactly what this could be. The Falls are located on one of the northern routes to the Black Hills. They are located inside a gold mine. You climb a few stairs walk and walk through a long tunnel to see the Falls at the end. They have it fenced off so you can't get too close but there is tremendous force and spray. Very powerful. The water [View Full Entry]

---

---

Driving through Custer National Forest is one of my favorite routes to take from North Dakota to Rapid City. Custer National Forest is located in the northwest section of South Dakota so not to be confused with Custer State Park located in the southwest corner of South Dakota. Custer National Forest also runs in sections west into Montana as well. I'm not sure why I like the route through the Forest so much. The striking white and pink bluffs with green trees just rise out of nowhere in the rolling grass hills of that section of South Dakota. In doing a [View Full Entry]

---

---

What more can I say? On my recent trip to Rapid City, I took some back roads and went through the town of Lemmon, SD. In the center of town, is a Petrified Wood Park which is pretty good size for a small town park with lots of walkways, sculptures and small fountains. Some of the sculptures are quite tall and there are also rock sculptures and a very large castle that you can go inside and see a dinosaur bone still embedded in the rock. Who knew? The Park and the town is a nice little roadside diversion as you [View Full Entry]

---

---

Spearfish Canyon is listed in the book "1000 Places to See Before You Die". I had visited the Canyon a few years ago but hadn't taken the time on previous recent trips to Rapid City to do the drive which can add at least an hour to your drive depending upon how many detours you take. Had some time this trip, so took the Canyon route. The sky was a very pretty blue with white fluffy clouds but it was a very hot day hitting 102 degrees before it was over. The Canyon is home to three waterfalls although the most [View Full Entry]

---

---

My nephew is a lover of history so we decided to spend a couple hours on a warm day in the air conditioned comfort of the North Dakota Heritage Center. I hadn't toured the Center for many years. The Museum is very full of items relating to North Dakota's history. So full in fact that they are trying to get the funds to expand because they have so much in storage that they are unable to display. The Center is the largest museum in the State of North Dakota and located on the campus of the State Capitol. There are also [View Full Entry]

---

---

This is my third of three posts on Yellowstone National Park. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I tried to mix up the posts on the three days we spent at Yellowstone rather than just focusing on our daily activities. This post will focus on the geysers, springs and pools and other great scenery not discussed in my previous two blogs on waterfalls and wildlife. Yellowstone is a geological wonder. It's full of active geysers, beautiful blue springs and other colors, bubbling mud pots and colorful canyons. I've tried to post a mix of pictures of these wonders. Pictures don't [View Full Entry]

---

---

We saw a lot of wildlife as we spent our three days in Yellowstone. It sure made things exciting. There were signs posted everywhere to watch out and if you kept your eyes open, you had the chance to see them. We saw the most wildlife in the early mornings. During our days in Yellowstone, we saw: 1. Black Bear: We saw a black bear cub along the side of the road as we come along on the road. I suspect that Mama had already crossed the road so there was no way we were going to be stupid to get [View Full Entry]

---

---

Decided to do the posts on Yellowstone a little different. Instead of doing by what we saw each day in Yellowstone, I'm going to divide up by the types of things we saw in Yellowstone over the course of the three days we spent there. First up...my favorite...waterfalls. Yellowstone National Park has quite a few waterfalls in it. Most are easily accessible by car. Only a few require hiking or more than 1/2 mile walks. Here are the waterfalls I was able to see and what I thought: 1. Lewis Falls: First of the waterfalls we saw as we entered Yellowstone [View Full Entry]

---

---

It's the third day of our vacation and today's agenda was the Grand Teton National Park. A little history...the Grand Teton Range is made up of a series of jagged topped mountain peaks. There are no obstructions to seeing the Grand Tetons because the area around them is incredibly flat. The tallest mountain/peak is the Grand Teton at 13,770 feet with the Middle Teton at 12,804 feet, Mount Owen at 12,928 feet, South Teton at 12,514 feet and several other smaller mountains. Grand Teton National Park also contains Jenny Lake and Jackson Lake which are crystal clear lakes. So beautiful. We [View Full Entry]

---

---