Blogs from Keystone, South Dakota, United States, North America

All packed and waiting to go to the airport in a couple of hours. This has been such an awesome trip. Rain and cold was in the forecast for the entire time, and except for a couple of tiny showers during drive time, the weather was perfect. To top it all off, last night when we returned to the hotel after an amazing dinner (more on that later), we were treated to a magnificent thunderstorm, with rolling thunder bouncing off the granite hills and lightening fireworks filling the sky. Some of them were so bright you could see George Washington’s sculpture during flashes. Rained for a long time and this morning I woke to a brilliant, warmer weather. Makes me want to stay longer. I spent this week with a fun couple from the San Fran ... read more

Our last day here Susan and McKenna did some shopping, Me? I went through the Big Thunder Mine and did some gold panning. Found a few flakes and some garnets. Walk across town did the sled/slide down a hill. Would have been awesome if the girl in front had been going faster. Have a video.... read more

Don't bother going to Mt. Rushmore. Really. Some national parks or monuments are worth it. The grandeur puts you in awe. Grand Canyon is one: you cannot imagine its immensity, even in front of it, but less so through a picture. Mount Rushmore? What you see is what you get. Your imagination is all you need. We were in and out of the park in less than 2 hours. There is little to do there, and not a lot to see besides the mountain. Sure, it's cool. But really not worth a trip. We also went in to see Rapid City, the city nearby, and get lunch. We found a dinosaur park that was just a bunch of giant dinosaurs on a hill. To a bunch of nerdy 20-somethings, it was AWESOME. What was also cool ... read more

It's late, we're tired, so NO BLOG FOR YOU! Signed: Ian the Blog Nazi. And if you don't get this, you need to watch more Seinfeld. See our short story in the 52 photos.... read more

Day 11 – Tuesday August 28th, 2012 We had reserved 2 nights in Keystone because there were several things in the area we wanted to see. The first thing on our agenda for the day was to go to Mount Rushmore. Mama had been there before with Daddy but this was the first time for me. The drive out to Mount Rushmore was pretty. It was interesting seeing it in person after only seeing it in pictures and on travel show for years. We saw the presidents then went through the visitors center and watched a video on the constructions. I was more impressed with Crazy Horse than I was with Mount Rushmore. After leaving Mount Rushmore we took Hwy 16A out of town. This road is a pigtail road with 3 tunnels which frame Mount ... read more