SD-5: More Caving and Animal Encounters

Sorry our last day of adventures was delayed, but we were delayed!  The last day and a half of our trip were their own separate adventure, but it was an adventure of airports and flight delays and layovers.  We made it home safely and that's what matters.
So the last day in South Dakota.  By that point we had done all the big stuff on our list of things to hit so we decided to start the day by going to the Wind Cave.  The Wind Cave Park was pretty close to our hotel and one of the major roads we had to take everyday went right through it.  This was where we were stopped by bison on a daily bases.  We figured we had been by enough times, why not stop and check it out.  I think we ended up seeing all the major caves in the area and each one was a little different the others.  Like this one and the Jewel Cave were formed in a similar way, but because one is in a drier area and the other is in a wet area the formations you find under the surface are completely different.

The rest of the day we spent looking at animals.  I love aquariums and zoos, and I love the challenge of shooting animals.  We headed down to the Reptile Gardens.  I figured there were animals for me and gardens for mom.  It was a cool place.  There were beautiful gardens outside and a tropical green house which housed some amazing orchids in a room you could walk through with lizards crawling around and birds and fountains, as well as exhibits of snakes from around the globe.

Outside they had a snake show and an alligator show.  Prairie dogs had a little enclosure, an injured bald eagle has a home there, and there were so many turtles and tortoises!! Ever since we took care of my sister-in-laws tortoise years ago I've completely fallen in love with them.  There were 2 giant tortoises and another pen with probably 20 different tortoises, different sizes and breeds. 

Adding the Reptile Gardens to our list of "places visited" meant we had seen the top 6 of the top 10 things to do in South Dakota (7 of the top 10 total).  When I had been looking through the travel guide at the beginning of the trip I had seen Bear Country advertised and got all excited about seeing bears.  Well we were driving right by so we stopped.  The first part was like a driving safari type thing but it was with bison and mountain goats and wolves and of course bears.

Once we drove around there was an area to get out and walk around and see some of the baby animals.  They were adorable!! 

Well that my friends is the end of our trip, well except for the adventures of Friday the 13th at the airport ;) 

Until the next adventure . . . 

Cheers :)

SD-4: Sylian Lake

As our adventure in South Dakota continue we were headed back towards Keystone to stop at the Rushmore Cave.  It was another walk through cave, but this place had some other attractions to try out along with touring the cave.  There was a zip line but this one was different then any zip line I've ever seen.  Instead of a harness, we sat in a 2 person chair and got strapped in for a trip down the hill, but then it pulled us back up.  After that we got to try the gunslinger game.  We sat in a chair that would move and watched a 3-D show while shooting the robot cowboys.  Like in Disney when Shari and I had a shooting game challenge, we bet ice cream on it.  Unlike Disney, I won!!

Since we were in the area we decided to stop by Mt Rushmore for lunch.  Finding a good place to eat had been an ongoing issue and we knew what to expect there, plus the weather was much clearer then the day before so we took another stroll around the monument after lunch.

A hike was on the agenda for the rest of the day.  We had driven by Sylvian Lake when we were on one of our scenic drives and it looked like the lake I had seen in the travel guide. So we were off!!  The lake was beautiful!! We made a loop around the lake and then started out on one of the other trails. It was quite the hike up, and a much easier trip back down :)

Our trip back to the hotel took us down 385, and road we've learned well.  Part of the road takes us through the Wind Caves park where we've become very familiar with the bison that roam those fields.  I don't know why but I love seeing them on the side of the road (sometimes in the road) everyday.  I never get enough of it!

A little further down the road we pulled over to see a bunch of prong horns grazing, as we were about to leave up on a ridge a little ways off a herd of elk had come up to graze.  It was actually sort of funny, there was one male who was obviously the dominant leader of the herd, he would sort of push the herd along when he wanted, then if any of them wandered off too far he'd run over and shoo them back to the pack.

One more day of adventures.  What else will South Dakota hold for us?

Cheers!!

SD-3: Mammoth Rushmore

Day 3 started with another friendly tip (thanks Mrs Williams). I had seen advertisements for some mammoth place in the South Dakota guide book, and then we were told it was a fun place to check out.  Well, come to find out it's only about 5 miles from our hotel! So that was the first stop of the day.  It was so neat. They gave a history about the spot and how the fossils ended up there.  Apparently it was a giant sink hole and the mammoths had fallen in and couldn't get back out again.  After hundreds of years of animals falling in and the land filling in and then getting packed down and more animals falling in, it created layers upon layers of fossils that were discovered by and excavating crew and continue to be unearthed by paleontologists. It's sort of sad when you think about it, but it was so interesting to see.  It's one of the biggest sights like this in the world.  They've unearthed the tusks from 61 mammoths so far, and they don't know how deep the sink hole goes, or what else is underneath.

After checking out the mammoths we were finally going to head over to Mt Rushmore.  We chose to take another scenic road to get there.  Like I said last time, these roads are not good if you get car sick but they are so worth the extra time!! The Needle Highway we did day 2 had some of the most amazing views and rock formations.  This time we were on the Iron Mountain Road. This one had some cool cork screw roads, and it had an amazing view of its own.
When we first got to South Dakota every time I saw big mountains I would watch them intently wondering if we turned the corner if I'd be able to see the faces on Rushmore looking back at me. I never did. But on our way North towards  Custer way off in the distance I was able to very briefly spot the Crazy Horse Memorial.  It was one of those moments when you're like 'Hey! Wait, can it be? Yes!' So that was neat.  Then we start driving down this winding scenic road and we go through a tunnel (which I personally thought was just the coolest thing every time) ...

... and when we came out the other side...

No joke!! It was unbelievable!! There's even a little turn off so you can get out and really enjoy the view safely.

We did get to the actual monument.  It is quite a sight!!  There's a beautiful area for viewing, plus a trail that goes down to the base of the mountain for a closer look.  Then the sculptors studio is open with one of the giant scale models that the workers used to create the actual monument.  There's a museum with tools and videos and documents and newspaper clippings.

We stayed to see the lighting ceremony.  They talked about the 4 presidents on the monument and the things they did for our country.  Once the lights were on, they invited all members of the service who were present to go up on stage and a few of them lowered and folded the flag.  It was very nice.

It was an amazing sight!! It almost didn't seem real to me.  I mean how often do you see faces on the side of a mountain? It was crazy, and I'm so glad be were able to check it out :)

Cheers!!

SD-2: Caves, Custer, Crazy

Day 2 was supposed to be the day!! We made a plan in the morning and this was going to be the day that we made it over to Mt Rushmore.  Well like many well laid plans something usually comes up, but we're on vacation for a few days so it really didn't make any difference.  Instead we checked a few different attractions off our to-do list instead :)  The day started as planned with a trip over to the Jewel Caves.  We had a fun commute getting there!! We simply followed the GPS instructions, and it would seem that a good chunk of South Dakota (or at least where we're staying) is National Parks.  To get most places you need to pass through part of one.  So we're only about 5 miles into the trip and we run into the Wind Caves National Park.  Ok, cool, we'll just pass through.  Next we see a sign warning travelers of large breed animals.  As if on cue there were the buffalo!!  A whole herd of them right by the road.  We even had to stop so some could cross the road.  I can remember having to stop for cow crossing when I was a kid, but for a wandering bunch of buffalo? That was a first.

We made it to the caves and got ready for a tour.  It started with an elevator ride down a couple 100 feet into the ground and then we followed the path through about a mile of caves.  They were pretty cool, and our guide was great.

Mom insisted on taking one of me
right-side-up

We had a great time and saw some amazing rock formations.  Since the tour took a little longer then expected we decided to alter our plans slightly, and since the path to the Crazy Horse Monument took us right by Custer State Park we decided to check out some of the scenic roads.

 We started on the wilderness loop in Custer.  There was an abundance of wildlife again, which we're starting to get used to but it's still entertaining to me every time I see little prairie dog heads popping out of the ground and bison grazing beside the road.

 From the wilderness loop we headed over to the Needles Road.  If you get car sick this probably isn't a good idea for you, but the view is amazing!!  A few one way tunnels and the spires are just something else.  I've never seen anything like it!!

After making quite a few stops along the scenic road we finally arrived at the Crazy Horse Monument.  We took the bus down closer to the monument to get a better look, and the visitors center was full of information on Native American culture as well as the history of the monument and models of the finished product.

We stayed until dark when they were doing a light show.  It was pretty interesting.  They projected images and lasers on the monument talking about history and the making of the monument.

It was another fun day, we crammed a lot in and there's still a lot more to see :)
Cheers!!