South Dakota

    Ever since we visited  South Dakota 4 years ago I've been wanting to return. This time we visited the Badlands.  They were incredible.

This is not the best picture but you can see how well the mountain goats are camouflaged .

We stopped at Mt Rushmore again.  What a great monument.

We stayed at Sylvan Lake Lodge.  The rooms are just average but the location and the lounge area make up for that.

Sylvan Lake is beautiful.

Steve enjoying the lounge area.

 We saw several waterfalls on our way to Deadwood.

These buffalo were plentiful in the Badlands.

We stopped in Sioux Falls on the way home to see the falls.  I was surprised to see how big they were!

All Around The Town

Needles Highway is a scenic, twisty, turny road in Custer State Park. Don't go if you get car sick easily.  This is the eye of the needle.

Beautiful views.

We visited a few casinos.

We found this giant corn across the street from the Corn Palace.

Everyone who drives through South Dakota is required to stop at Wall Drugs.  It's a law or something!

The streets of Wall, SD.

We drove through Sturgis on our way to Deadwood.  Unimpressive.

Saw this truck on the street in Custer.

Mt Rushmore

Deadwood

Deadwood is an interesting town.  It looks like an old western town, but almost every hotel (and there are a lot on this street) have casinos inside.

They have a shootout 3 times a day. Steve said, "Go stand by those guys".  Their backs were to me so I thought it would be a stupid picture.  All of the sudden I could feel a presence behind me....

Corn Palace

A picture from the Corn Palace when it's all put together.

 When we were here they were removing the corn and replacing it.  They do this every year.  They also put new murals up every year.

A close up of a picture.

Iron Mountain Road

Pig Tail Bridges

There are 3 tunnels that were specifically constructed to take advantage of Mt Rushmore views.

Steve pulled the sideview mirrors in to go through this tunnel.  It was pretty tight with the SUV.

Can you see Mt Rushmore in the back?

Custer State Park

We weren't sure we were going to see any wildlife today.  The weather was dreary.  Rained all day and lots of low hanging clouds. But as we drove the wildlife loop we found enough animals to keep us happy!

Can you see the baby?

These two babies were having a great time chasing each other.