Big Sky Country - 2016
Yorba Linda CA to
Rapid City, ND
Day 1 - August 18
Ok, the first foodie. Will try to limit these, but no promises. California Pizza Kitchen, Orange County Airport. Starting simple.
We are leaving Dallas for Rapid City. It was touch and go coming into Dallas; the pilot was threatening to divert to OK City. I think he wanted to look like a hero when he brought it into DFW
Nice window pic, Kathy!
Day 1 - August 18
Southern California - Boston - Portland ME - Belfast ME
Flight-from-town day. We left Orange County around noon, stopped over in Dallas, and arrived in Rapid City, SD just after 9pm. Excited for the 23 days to come!
Mt. Rushmore, Nebraska,
The Black Hills & Rapid City
Day 2 - August 19
This was on Kathy’s bucket list, so it was the first thing we did. I had visited here 49 years ago.
The entry. All of the state flags are presented
The boys…
We hear that visiting Mt. Rushmore is best done in the morning or late evening, for the best lighting. This is about 8 am - but it’s a cloudy, rainy day. We plan to return tomorrow afternoon with our friend Susan McFadden’s parents, who are going to be our tour guides.
Officials asked us to pose for the 5th and 6th heads
The Black Hills of South Dakota - beautiful grasslands
The cows in these parts eat very well
We made this 3-hour round trip so that I could check off state number 47. I am standing behind the sign, so officially I AM in Nebraska
Nebraska farmland
Nebraska grassland. The terrain flattens abruptly as you come out of the Black Hills
Black Hills Burger & Bun Co. in Custer, SD. I had come across some online list that rated them with the best burgers in America. We had to try it!
We were not disappointed! Probably the best burgers ever! I had this jalapeno burger with buffalo meat and a spicy jalapeno jelly. Kathy had a blue cheese burger that was amazing. The buns were the best! She said the sweet potato fries were the best she’s ever had, and those beans were delicious. Wow!
Nebraska farmland
The Crazy Horse monument. We didn’t go all the way in; it seemed a little pricey. From what I hear, they have been working on this for years, off and on. Lots of community and political intrigue. The flat part where the heavy equipment is will be Crazy Horse’s arm and hand, pointing - somewhere.
This is Art Alley in Rapid City (thanks for the tip, Jordan!) Apparently, street artists began to paint here. At first the citizens and city protested, but have now come to embrace it. It really is beautiful.
Art Alley, Rapid City
Even the electric meters and trash bins are covered!
I’ll bet this one will stay here for awhile. No one would dare paint over it
Day 2 - August 19
Mt. Rushmore, Nebraska, The Black Hills & Rapid City
We got up early to hit Mt. Rushmore by 8 am, before the crowds arrived. It was very quiet there, but as we left, folks were arriving in droves. Although cloudy, we were fortunate to avoid the rain. So impressive - how did they do that? We plan to return tomorrow in late afternoon and stay for the evening lighting.
But there was another reason for getting up early. I wanted to make the 3-hour round trip to the Nebraska state line. It would mark my 47th state to visit. Just 3 more!
From there we traveled back into Custer State Park and the city of Custer, where we had the best hamburgers ever, at renowned Black Hills Burger & Bun Co.
We wanted to visit Thunderhead Falls, a 30-foot underground waterfall, but it was closed. It’s owned by a private party, so who knows what happened. Maybe they closed it down, maybe they took a vacation.
Finally, we went to Art Alley in Rapid City to visit the street art (beautiful), did some shopping, then returned to our room in the late afternoon.
It was cloudy and a bit rainy in places, but a great start!
Custer State Park &
Mt. Rushmore
Day 3 - August 20
Meet Paul and Carol Schneider, parents of our good friend Susan McFadden. The Schneiders live in Rapid City, and were our tour guides through Custer State Park and Mt. Rushmore for the day. And by “day” I mean 14 hours! I took over 200 pictures - imagine putting up with that! “Can you pull over here, Paul?” What wonderful hosts!!
The Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. This place was a gold mine of wildlife and varying landscape and rock formations, as you will see in the following pictures. You HAVE to visit!
Wild trukey
Turtle
Prairie dogs everywhere!
We really wanted to see buffalo, and were hoping we wouldn’t get shut out. Not to worry!!
Buffalo
Majestic
Antelope - beautiful
Donkeys! They are the most friendly, will eat carrots from your hand. We didn’t have any come that close
And plenty of deer
Even a Texas Longhorn - on someone’s ranch
A picture of the Park from Coolidge Tower. You could see (with binoculars) George Washington at Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse
Next was The Needles. Amazing granite formations, only found in one area of the Park
The Needles
Between The Needles
Through The Needles
Tight squeeze
Sylvan Lake. There are no natural lakes in the Black Hills - all are man made, including this one
Sylvan Lake
Sylvan Lake panorama
The Iron Mountain Road access to Mt. Rushmore. There are a couple of tunnels positioned so that you see the presidents as you emerge
Washington and Jefferson
Under the California flag!
Presidents Trail leads you along the base of the mountain. This view looks through a hole in a rock to Washington
Straight up
The nighttime lighting
The nighttime lighting with the amphitheater below
Day 3 - August 20
Custer State Park & Mt. Rushmore
Wow - what a full day! Paul and Carol Schneider picked us up at 7:30 am and dropped us back off at 9:30 pm!!
Most of the time was spent in Custer State Park - what an unbelievable surprise it was! It is the second largest state park in the United States.
We traveled the Wildlife Loop in search of, well, wildlife. We were not disappointed, as the pictures show! And so much variation of terrain, landscape, rock formation - you could truly spend weeks here.
We ended the day at Mt. Rushmore for the 8 pm nightly lighting of the presidents.
Exhausted, but an incredible day - thanks Paul and Carol!
Badlands National Park &
Wall Drug Store
Day 4 - August 21
Badlands National Park, from the Window Trail. Reminds us of Bryce Canyon
From the Door Trail
The Notch Trail. 3 miles round trip. It starts out pretty easy…
But then you have to climb up this ladder. That was still the easy part…
If you go UP the ladder, you must go DOWN the ladder. This was very difficult. It’s now two days later, and our thighs are still burning
Notch Trail
Notch Trail
Rewarded at the end of the trail, The Notch, with incredible views of the Badlands
Lots of wildlife in the Badlands too - here is a bighorn sheep
There IS some color on those hills
The Badlands loop offers many overlooks. We checked out every one!
Badlands
Badlands
Wall Drug, in Wall SD, just outside Badlands, is a famous drug store. What it is most famous for is the millions of billboards along the interstate leading up to it. This one was on a country road - they have them everywhere!
The Emporium.
It really is nothing more than a trinket store
But they do have a soda fountain shop. I had a root beer float, Kathy a Dr. Pepper float.
Sunflower crop
Day 4 - August 21
Badlands National Park & Wall Drug Store
We wanted to hike the Castle/Medicine Root loop trails in Badlands. It was predicted to be hot - mid 90s - so we got to the park early. The Visitor Center told us it was a 4-hour hike - so we passed. Instead we took 3 very short hikes, Notch Trail, Window Trail and Door Trail. Window & Door were only a few hundred yards each - no problem. Notch Trail was 3 miles round trip. The distance was no problem, but as you see from the pictures, just a tad more difficult. Going down that ladder, for us old folks with height anxieties and unused muscles, was trepidacious.
The rest of the time spent in Badlands was stopping at all the overlooks to see the different viewpoints of the landscape. A very strange place.
To finish it off, we visited Wall Drug for a soda. Too crowded for our taste, but the sodas were delicious!