Blogs from South Dakota, United States, North America - page 62

Wind and Caves After seeing Mt Rushmore, I ate dinner in Hill City and camped at Wind Cave National Park. Driving along the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway in the dark where you know a buffalo may be hanging in the middle of the road is quite imposing. Also, with California plates, I'd heard from many people that I don't want to do a single thing to warrant a ticket, so I drove cautiously. Here I set up camp for three nights. This park is terrific. The campsites are comfortable, the people who work here very friendly, and it is uncrowded. It is a mix of prairie and ponderosa pines. The herd of buffalo are of original buffalo stock (not interbred with cows), so they are very special and warrant a fence around the whole park. I ... read more

We haven't crossed the finish line yet, because we aren't home. But we have visited every destination on our itinerary with the exception of Zion which we traded for a couple of extra days in Sedona. Gladly. It's been almost three weeks. Elbow to Elbow. We haven't killed the kids or each other and they haven't run away with the circus. In fact, tonight, we're sitting about five miles from Mt Rushmore having seen both the national monument and the Crazy Horse Monument earlier this afternoon/evening. Early today, we did the Deadwood Museum and a Gold Mine, where the kids panned for gold. Mark popped the celebratory bottle of champagne after the kids went to bed guaranteeing trouble to come on the way home. The vacation is essentially over. All we have to do is ... read more

June 27 On my way to Sturgis to ride through the Black Hills National Park. Stayed in Billings MT last night and picked up the necessary maps at the AAA to make it to the east coast. While I was at the Travel Café downtown Billings, I met the proud owner of a Tomberlin MadAss 50 two stroke scooter. Very cool! June 29 I stayed the previous two nights in Spearfish and the tonight I’m staying in a roach motel in Sturgis. As Craig pointed out, the voicemail was to "leave a damn message!". Beautiful riding roads weave throughout the park. Lot of RVs and traffic are on the road now that school is out. Once again I have to watch out for those deer popping on the road. I visited Mount Rushmore, another American icon. ... read more

June 25, 2007 - June 29, 2007 Might be a long time before a write-up for this makes it on here. For now, enjoy the pictures. ... read more

Who knew you could see Michelangelo's David in Sioux Falls, SD??? Well, you can! According to the city, Sioux Falls is one of only 2 places in the world with full size reproductions of the statue of David by Michelangelo (in doing some research, it appears there may be others in other forms, like plaster, etc.). The replica is located in Fawick Park in Sioux Falls courtesy of a donation by its owners. According to some literature, there was a bit of a controvery with putting the nude David in such an "exposed" area because it could lead to a lowering of moral values in Sioux Falls. Luckily, smarter heads prevailed and the wonderful statue was placed in the downtown park, although done "tastefully" so that he is not visible by passing traffic and trees cover ... read more