Big rocks with and without heads of Presidents on them

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On our way to Yellowstone, after leaving a long weekend of chilly and rainy weather in Minneapolis, we voted to drive through Badlands National Park and to Mount Rushmore. The pictures will give some semblance of the story, but the Badlands are a very beautiful drive and worth your time if you are ever out this way. It is a short one-hour loop in the car with several stops for pictures (great panoramic photo op...we will figure this out with our two cameras very soon I hope) and some hikes. Many signs warn of what must be a continual presence of rattlesnakes. Other wildlife in the area include the most endangered mammal in the US..the black footed ferret, bison, big-horned sheep, fox, and prairie dogs! We arrived at Badlands in late afternoon and had some great lighting to see the different colors within the sediment layers.

A short drive away is Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills National Forrest. The facade of the sculpture is truly impressive and should be seen by everyone. They have a little tourist trap of a town near the base of the park complete with crossing guards firing blanks into the air and whipping the street with a bull whip. I have not quite figured out why this happens yet however. The inside scoop from the workers in the area is that the sculpture is most impressive at twilight and early night right after the lighting ceremony. The attached pictures are right before the lighting ceremony. The drive out of Mount Rushmore area into WY is perhaps the most beautiful part of our trip so far. You descend through the Black Hills on switchbacks, with a multitude of deer and antelope grazing in front of a magnificent sunset over the mountain hills. We are a short 6 hours from Yellowstone National and hope to arrive in good weather with plenty of time to setup for our inaugural camping experience. Updates to follow. Miss everyone reading this!

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Comments

[Pam]

Love the clouds! And, of course, the bunny.... This is making my office feel very closed in. Six weeks and 3 days to vacation.