Blogs from South Dakota, United States, North America - page 50

At this point Jim and I were really ready to go home. The heart of the trip was over and we were on our last ounce of energy. Traveling really takes a lot out of a person. We left the hotel the next morning, and after a hardy breakfast, started on the long drive to Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore was a short stop. It took us about an hour and a half to see the mountain carving, and to go on a walking tour with a ranger along Presidential Trail. We got to see the originial model of Mount Rushmore that the artist used. Pretty cool. Next we drove on to Badlands National Park. This is such a unique place. It's like a cut up Grand Canyon. There are peaks and valleys, vibrant colors, grassy meadows, ... read more

We were pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the Black Hills. National forests, granite mountains, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the stunningly beautiful Custer State Park are found along with the usual tacky tourist attractions, motels, campgrounds, and gift shops. Everyone’s seen photos of Mt. Rushmore, but it’s quite a treat to visit in person and learn the story of how this national memorial came to be. The Crazy Horse monument was slightly more interesting, in our opinion. The project was begun in 1948 after Chief Standing Bear wrote to sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and asked him to carve a monument honoring Native American heroes. He worked on it alone for many years. After his death in 1982, his widow and children continued the project. The head was finally unveiled in 1998, but there is no official ... read more

I am doing yet another trip back to my home town of Sioux Falls South Dakota. This ends my domestic journey which started back in late June. Here's a recap -- * Sioux Falls - 4 days * San Fran - 6 days with three in Napa * Sioux Falls - 4 days * NYC - 3 days * Chicago - 3 days * Cape Cod - 1 day * NYC - 2 days * Block Island, RI - 4 days * Sioux Falls - current trip for 4 days I was able to visit a lot of friends and colleagues. I really enjoyed the trips. I am looking forward to spending time with mom before Victoria and I begin our overseas journey. ... read more

What's hot: Jackalope. Travel lesson of the day: Build it and they will come. from Kathy: This day, August 4, deserves another entry for our return visit to Wall Drug in Wall, SD, and to Interior, SD, the birthplace of Clark Griswold, our little Prairie Dog mascot. Whether you’re going east or west on Rt. 90. you’ll begin to encounter signs—lots of them—for Wall Drug at least 125 miles before you get there. Any Pittsburghers here old enough to remember the Burma Shave signs that lined the pre-Rt. 79 roads to Erie, Pennsylvania? Or does anyone remember the Mail Pouch Tobacco signs on the sides of barns? Wall Drug is perhaps one of the clearest cases of build-it-and-they-will-come I’ve ever seen. According to its Web site, it started at the worst of the Depression and they ... read more

Since the last time I wrote we were playing in the Tetons. We awoke at Flagg Ranch for a day in Yellowstone National Park. I apologize in advance to all of you out there that have been to Yellowstone and LOVED it. I LIKE it. Nick really wanted to see Old Faithful so we decided that we would do a 60 mile loop within the park which would allow us to see about 40 sulfur spewing geysers, waterfalls and painpots. We got to Old Faithful and had to wait only 45 minutes until the next display of thermal activity. We got front row spots for the 2 minute show. It was good and the boys’ were glad to have seen it. We then did a 2 mile walk around the geyser where there were many smaller ... read more