May 26/27, 2008 - Update from Rapid City, SD

Hello everyone. Today is Memorial Day and for us, it holds special significance this year. We have just finished up all of the major parks and sights we planned for our BIG trip. And has it ever been a memorable trip. We have seen God’s handiwork in America. He blessed us tremendously. I just wish every American could see what we have seen of this country and then they would know just how blessed we are. We should give thanks every day for what we have here in the USA.

For the past two days, we have been in Rapid City, SD. We came here for me to see Mt. Rushmore. Mike has been here before and seen the sculptures. We got here on Saturday afternoon and our drive in took us past the new carving of Crazy Horse. It is a long way from being finished. Mike said the man who started the work has died and his wife and son have taken over the work. From what we could see, the head is done and they have started on the horse.

The RV park where we decided to stay was just on the outskirts of Rapid City on the road to Mt. Rushmore. It sits high up on a bluff and overlooks the city. It is not the nicest RV park we have been in, but the view was great. During the day, you can look out over the city and then to the wide open prairie beyond. At night, the lights of the city are like diamonds sparkling off in the distance. It was so pretty that I raised up the blinds in our bedroom and just sat there and gazed out the window for a long time.

Sunday was our sightseeing day. We got up and headed for Mt. Rushmore. It was only about 20 miles up the road. We got some great snapshots of the mountain. You can’t get very close, but we did get close enough to get good pictures. When we left the main entrance, our drive took us around to the side of the mountain and we were able to get good pictures of the side of Washington’s face.

Our next destination was going to be Crazy Horse, but we decided instead to take the Needles Highway through Custer State Park. Mike’s uncle Bud had driven the Needles Highway and highly recommended that we make the drive. This is a 14 mile long drive through the park that showcases some of the most fabulous rock formations anywhere. The trademark is a rock formation that actually has a slit at the top that looks exactly like the elongated eye of a needle. The highway is narrow and winding and has three tunnels cut out of the rocks. We came up to the first tunnel shortly after entering the highway. We had traveled a few miles up the winding highway and were up pretty high on the mountain. There was one of smaller campers that you drive sitting off the road and the woman was out of the vehicle. It appeared that she was trying to measure the width of the camper to see if they could get through. We went by them and through the tunnel. We did not see them again, so they either backed up (which would have been a harrowing experience on that highway at that spot) - or - they got through and then took another road out of the park. I bet they were pretty glad to get out of there whatever route they took.

After this first tunnel, we only drove a mile or so and came to the “Needle” section of the highway. This area was an opening in the rocks. The entrance was narrowed by the tall rock formations on either side of the road. I need to stop here and explain that the rocks here are not like boulders where they are big and round. Rather, these rocks are like tall spires. They look like a grove of trees - only they are rocks. I would guess that some of them are well over 100 feet tall. With the analogy of a grove of trees in mind, the road entered an opening in the grove of rocks. It was a circular opening that was wide enough for the highway in the middle and space to park about five vehicles on either side with their front ends pointed away from the highway. The exit for the highway was another tunnel through the rocks. We stopped here and Mike climbed up a pathway around the rocks. I did not try the climbing, but I did get out and viewed the “Needle” and a maze of sorts in the rocks on the opposite side of the road from where Mike was climbing. I hope my pictures can show this to you better than I am able to explain it. This section of the Needles Highway was the most interesting. However, we did see some more rock formations and even a man sitting up on top of one of the tall rocks. The remainder of the drive on the Needles Highway led us back down to a lower elevation where we saw some beautiful meadows.

Next, we headed for the Badlands National Park. This is another surprise in the landscape of the west. The whole area around Rapid City was miles and miles of green pasture and hillsides covered with deep green trees which form the “Black Hills” of South Dakota. So we are just driving along and all of the sudden up ahead it appears that the land just drops off and changes immediately to this area of gulches and mounds of dirt. Some spots below are green and they reminded me of the putting greens on a golf course. There are places that appear to be white sand. In the distance, there are tall, pointed ridges that have horizontal bands of different colors. It is one of those places that you could say is so ugly that it is pretty.

The land on one side of the road was green prairie and badlands on the other side. We were almost to the intersection where we planned to turn off for Wall, SD when we came upon a prairie dogs town. This section of green prairie was probably 10 or more acres, dotted with white mounds of dirt every 10 or 20 feet apart. I’ve never seen such a place, nor had I ever heard of one. Mike says that the travelers in the old west days avoided these areas because their horses could step in one of the holes and break a leg. There must have been a thousand prairie dogs in this village. They were popping in and out of the holes and scampering around their town. It was fun to watch them.

The road through the Badland’s National Park is a 26 mile loop. We planned to do this drive, but we were low on fuel and decided instead to go into Wall, SD to get some fuel and to visit Wall Drugs. Now you may wonder what would make us want to visit Wall Drug. Mike told me about Wall Drugs from his previous trips out west to go hunting. There are billboards for over a 100 miles east of Wall, SD that advertise this store and probably as many coming in from the west. Some of the signs are humorous and others are informational. Wall Drugs was opened in 1931 in the tiny town of Wall, SD. I doubt that anyone other than the people living in Wall would have every heard of the place had it not been for the highway advertisements. As it is, these highway billboards bring in people from all over the country. Like Mike, after seeing these billboards for 100 miles, you want to stop and see what this place is all about.

So we pulled into Wall, SD around 2pm and got our fuel and then made our way the few blocks to the downtown. I’d say that at least half of the main street in Wall, SD is Wall Drug. The original store is there, but it has been added onto multiple times. Now it is sort of like a small shopping mall with mini stores under one roof. There is a shoe store, jewelry store, bookstore, art shop, and even a section selling Brighton items. There is a restaurant and candy store and a place to get ice cream. AND, they even have a drugstore. I don’t know if the original owner was responsible for the advertisements or not. If so, he sure was a smart man. He spent money on billboard ads and they have been paying off ever since. So, what did we buy - only a package of clips to hold our tablecloth onto a picnic table. We spent all of about $2. But, that is $2 that Wall Drugs would not have had if Mike had not seen those billboards on his first trip out here.
After our adventure at Wall, Mike asked if I wanted to go back and do the 26 mile loop in the Badlands. I told him, “no”. I was tired and really just wanted to go back and rest. We had not eaten and I did not feel like cooking, so we took the dogs home and we went out for some Mexican. It was not nearly as good as the Mexican we got in Santa Fe, but it was ok and I did not have to cook.

Today, we are traveling to ND or MN. We have not decided which yet. We left Rapid City around 9:30am. We had to go the direction of Wall, SD and the Badlands on our way to the east. Mike asked if I wanted to do the 26 mile loop into the Badlands and I said that I would. I am so glad we did. It was really an experience. Our trip yesterday was only the tip of the iceberg as far as seeing this area. I’ve tried to come up with an analogy that will help you understand what this place is like. I decided that it is like being on the beach where you are the size of bug. Someone has gone along the beach with a large sand bucket and made thousands of sand castles. They are not all in a straight row. In some places they are clusters of sand castles and some are higher than others. Some have been shaped so that they are more of a pyramid shape and others are more rounded. Then it rains on the sandcastles causing them to have gulches and valleys and some to melt like snow. Now, you are the bug walking along (or in our case - riding along) through all of these sand castles. If this analogy didn’t do it for you, maybe the pictures I am going to post, will. Like I said, I am so glad we made the trip into Badlands National Park. It is unlike any place I have ever seen.

We made a decision to go to Aberdeen, SD and stay the night and then head to Fargo, ND. Our trip took us through the SD state capital of Pierre. Actually, the sign coming into town says “Fort Pierre”. The city is small by the standards of state capitals in other states. Of course, the population of then entire state of SD is small. Most of this state is open land used to farm and raise cattle. The Missouri River runs through the city of Pierre. There is a park along the river that we could see from the bridge we crossed. It appeared to be a very nice park with walking paths and picnic shelters.

The trip to Aberdeen was a beautiful drive. The countryside out here is just something to see. You can see forever and what you see are miles after miles of open grasslands. The fields are either very green or brown because they are last year’s cuttings of wheat or corn. I did get to see some new wildlife - pheasants. The male is brightly colored and easy to spot. The females are a brownish color and blend in with the cut fields. I bet we saw over 50 cocks and maybe 20 hens.

We are staying the night in Aberdeen at the Wylie Park Campground. This is a wonderful place. It not only has a top notch campground but there is also a lake with beach, bumper cars, go-karts, water slide, zoo, storybook land with its own castle, Land of Oz with rides, volleyball courts and softball field. It is a super place for families. I wish we had something like this in NC. I’d love to take my grandchildren to a place like this. I wish we could stay longer, but we have places to go and people to see. Anyway, it is suppose to get down to freezing tonight. This part of the country is still pretty chilly.

Tomorrow, we head to Fargo, ND. I’m not sure if we will be spending the night there or moving on into MN. We will cross that bridge tomorrow. Now, it is time for me to get to bed.