http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from North America , United States , South Dakota , Black Hills National Forest en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:02:41 +0000 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:02:41 +0000 I'm sure my traveling companions have already apologized for the lack of entries so I won't. We've just been having a bit too much fun with too few hotspots available. It falls upon me to discuss with you the Black Hills as a region a religious idea and a national forest as well as its underground adornment Wind Cave. I had previously read about the Black Hills of course they are sacred to t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-439924.html WEEK SIX CHOTEAU MT TO CUSTER SDTuesday June 30 We took our time leaving Choteau lingering over long expanses of soft green prairies and buttes and memories Jenrsquos hospitality. Civilization seems an ugly interruption of this lovely land. The Ulm Pishkun State Park ten miles out of Great Falls is the historic Buffalo Jump of the First Peoples. For hundreds of years the Great Plains In http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-437918.html Ron was right the fun did start in South Dakota The drive from Michigan is a very long One of the best parts is on highway 90 right at the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is all hills and valleys where the small rivers feed into the Mississippi. There are stretches of S. Dakota that have acres and acres of corn and sunflowers. We are in Custer State Park which is on the western edge of th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-436509.html If itrsquos September we must be on the road Wersquore headed to Rexford Kansas by the way of Mt. Rushmore. We spent several days in Rapid City where we havenrsquot been since our girls were in junior high. Two things come to mind things have really changed in Rapid City and we must be getting old. Both of those thoughts are ok with meThe weather was windy and rainy is this the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-433373.html Hallo vrienden allemaalEerst even een aanpassing aan de klok. Rond het middaguur plaatselijke tijd zijn we terechtgekomen in een andere tijdzone. Deze keer in ons voordeel. Wij werden weer een uurtje jonger en daardoor bevinden wij ons nu in een tijdzone die 8 uur vroeger is dan in Belgi.En dan nog dit onze communicatieve capaciteiten worden hier beknot dat het niet mooi is om te beschrijven http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-426580.html Day 4 Tuesday July 28 2009 Rushmore Crazy Horse and Devils Tower Leaving Wall Sophie etc. and I sauntered our way through the Black Hills National Forests largely filled with sweetsmelling pine trees. The goal for the day is to visit all three National Monuments beginning with Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest then 17 miles to the Crazy Horse Memorial and finally http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-423678.html Lobelia picked up Podo at 840 am. We drove down I35 and turned West at I90. We stopped in Blue Earth for old times sake having attended the Norwegian Fjord Horse show there in the past. The horses had already gone home so we didn't see any. Shane attempted the clutch but it didn't go well. We will try again tomorrow. We are listening to the Lord of the Rings trilogy on CD.Curiosities seen on http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-421603.html Well we inended to get up early and go to Mt Rushmore right away but we were behind schedule as we discovered the campground did in fact have showers down by the beach sw we took advantage of them. So we decided to run into Rapid City first to pick up somethings we needed and then get to Mt Rushmore in the afternoon.Rapid city and the tourist sprawl toward Mt Rushmore is incredible compared to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-419319.html Day 5 July 13th The Black HillsCuster State Park Crazy Horse Monument SD Devils TowerWYWhat a day We woke up in KeystoneSD and drove thru the Black Hills and the wild life loop in Custer State Park. We saw antelope fed the begging burros found a prairie dog town saw some Buffalo and went thru some hair raising tunnels and twisting and turning steep roads. Phil is doing awesome driving http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-418367.html On Wednesday July 8 we woke up in Gillette WY and saw the Devils Tower National Monument which is more properly called the Bear Lodge National Monument. All the Indian nations called it something like Bears Lodge and the caucasian explorer just came up with his own name but claimed Devils Tower was the Indian name. Devils Tower was the backdrop for the movie Close Encounters of the Th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-418092.html We have been here since Sunday. We stayed at the Rafter J Bar Campground. Sunday we arrived in South Dakota from the last campground in Minesota. We just hung out at our campground the rest of the night we gotten there at night and we were tired. Monday we moved to our planned campsite we had arrived a day early. Once moved Zach and I went to the campgrounds to swim. Soon enough Mom came als http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-414306.html Well we have seen a lot today We got up this morning and we headed toward Keystone SD. Along the way we decided to stop at the city of Deadwood. The whole city is a historic landmark. It's the town where Wild Bill Hickok was killed in Saloon 10. Today I did something I never thought I'd hear myself say. I took my kids to a bar It's not QUITE as bad as it sounds but it's close They do a r http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-413568.html The adventures of today started in the middle of the night when Levi woke up with a fever. He was up twice and was hot and irritable. Luckily he was a pretty good sport all day and we were able to force some medicine into him as needed. He really wishes he could get normal naps in his bed. He never naps very well or very long in the stroller or the car. Poor kid Despite our many efforts to g http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-400953.html Our journey to South Dakota began from Texas. We drove through Oklahoma along route 66 for a while stopping off at Pops Petrol Station which is a road side attraction of a huge soda bottle and in the store they have loads of soda in different bottles. We also stopped off at the Round Barn before we mapped our new course through Kansas and onto Nebraska.While in Nebraska we visited the small http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-379967.html 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. Everyonersquos seen photos of Mt. Rushmore but itrsquos quite a treat to visit in person and learn the story of how thi http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-329005.html Day 7 We took a tour of the Black Hills today with Golden Circle Tours so that someone else could do the driving for a change. The fellow was very knowledgeable and made the trip even more interesting. There were 7 of us in total in a van so not a big group which was nice. Day 8 We toured Jewel Cave in the Black Hills. Then because I didn't see a bear in Yellowstone we drove through B http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-321127.html Well we have a 9 hour drive ahead today so we get an early start. Another grey day but perfect for travelling. I try to cover up the tired bags under my eyes with makeup and Steve jokes I'll just eat my muffin while you're coloring. I call him a bad name.The park had big forest fires in the 1980's. Lodgepole pine makes up 80 percent of the trees here they are the ones that have the con http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-321125.html Hello Welcome to our first official entry.First 3 days were driving in the rain. We didn't pick up any hitchhikers so there isn't much to type about. We arrived in South Dakota the end of the 3rd day. Day 4 the 14th we stopped in the 1880 town. Apparently it's a shrine to Dances with Wolves and there were a lot of movie propsreferences that we didn't get. Then we stopped in Badlands N.P. The s http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-313231.html Today we went through the Badlands National Park and hiked many really cool paths around rattle snake country looking for animals and great views. I brought along the Flip Video camera and edited a short movie. Check it outAfter the Badlands we headed for world famous Wall Drug. Yes we got the free ice water and checked out all the wonderful eats and souvenir stores but I didn't buy anything th http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-311113.html We left Devils Tower and drove to the Black Hills of SD. We tayed at the beautiful Rafter J ranch. We went to Mt. Rushmore Custer National Park Wind Cave National Park and drove the Needles Highway. For the kids we went to Reptil garden and rode the 1880's train from Hill City to Keystone. http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Dakota/Black-Hills-National-Forest/blog-311074.html