July 15,2008 Custer State Park

Today we are taking the wildlife loop in Custer State Park. Our first stop will be the State Game Lodge. This lodge was known as the lodge of the Presidents. Calvin Coolidge used this as a 2nd White house and Eisenhower also stayed here. Next we're off to see some wildlife. We're hoping to get lucky and see lots of different animals. First we came to a stop on the road when the bison decided to wander down the road. They'll move in there own time. Here's a bison up close and personal. We got to see lots of proghorn and watched them for some time.Their such pretty animal

On our drive we came to Wind Cave.Wind Cave is the 4th largest cave in the world with 119 miles of boxwork,frost work and popcorn formations. They have 5 different tours to choose from and last from 1 hour to 4 hours. We took one of the tours that lasted 1-1/2 hours. Here's some photos inside the cave.


It's been a long day and a most enjoyable one,but were ready to call it a day and head back to camp.

July 13,2008 Gutzon Borglum

We're back in Rapid City and will be staying at Hart Ranch for a week while we see the sights.Today we went to Keystone and had lunch and then went to the Borglum Historic Center. Borglum was a great sculptor and was known for the faces on Mt. Rushmore. He also has done many other sculptures including the one of Lincoln seated. It's nice to see this site before going to Mt. Rushmore. Here's a photo of Lincoln.
We also went to the Rushmore Gold Outlet as we wanted to take their tour and I wanted a ring. While we were there Sam had his ring resized and I had some of my prongs fixed on mine. I also found a nice Black Hills gold ring for myself. They make all their own jewlery and they have some beautiful pieces. It was another busy day and we headed back to camp.

July 11,2008 Badlands

Today we will be driving around the Badlalands National Park.This is a land of sharp ridges, steep canyons,pyramids,and knobs ravaged by wind and rain that has become picturesque.Our 1st stop will be the Ben Reifel Visitor Center where we will watch the movie and get our brocheurs of the park. Here's some photos of our drive today.

Grasslands and flowers.

Yellow mounds near Dillon Pass.

Interesting formations.
There was a place to hike around the rocks and were called door,window and notch. Here's some of that area.


Here's a of a bunny in the grass.
Here's some of the pictures of window rock and the spires. It's getting late and we have just a couple last stops.

July 10,2008 Wall Drug

Today we are headed to the Badlands and had to make a stop at the world's famous Wall Drug.Wall drug opened in 1931 and by 1936 it hadn't grown much. They started offering free ice water during the depression and kept their business alive. Now it's a regular shopping mecca with a church,restaurant,and everything under the sun for sale. Here are a few pics of wall drug.

Traveler's chapel

Here I am on the Jackalope.
We're off to the Badlands.

July 9,2008 Rapid City

Today was another busy day of exploring Rapid City. There is so much to do in this city and surrounding area. They have a trolley that goes around the city that takes you around to some of the highlights. Our first stop was the Journey Museum.The museum takes you on a journey through time and shows how this area in the Black Hills was formed many years ago. Worth a stop. The downtown district has 32 bronze statues of Presidents on their street corners,fun for photo opts. Next we were off to Stavkirke Chapel of the Hills. This unique church is a replica of the 850 yr. old Borgund Church in Norway.A very pretty church. Back side of the church.

Inside of the church.

Janice and I with Ole.

It's been a great 3 days seeing the sites with George and Janice.Tomorrow they will be leaving us and we will be heading to the Badlands.

July 8,2008 D.C Booth fish hatchery

Today our journey starts at D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery. This hatchery goes back to 1899 and and the grounds are beautiful. Here are some of the salmon they raise. The fish car was one of the first railroad cars to transport fish across the country.A crew of 5 would live on the car and deliver fish for stocking and other uses.This is a recreation of that car. Here's what the inside of the fish car looks like.

The Booth's moved into this house on the grounds in 1905. They have daily tours of the home and several rv volunteers that stay there do different jobs at the hatchery. It's a beautiful setting and you can spend alot of time there. Next we're off to Spearfish Canyon.

Spearfish Canyon is a beautiful 19 mile drive past waterfalls and canyons. This is definately a drive to take. One of the falls along the way is Bridal Veil falls.

We stopped here for our picnic lunch. It was overcast and we had some showers but what a beautiful setting.

This is a nice picnic area and you can walk down to Roughneck Falls along Spearfish Canyon.

Some of the beauty of the canyon.

Next stop is Deadwood,S.D.

We walked around town and went into Saloon #10 where they will be having a recreation of the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok. Our friend George will be playing the bartender.

Death of Wild Bill

Wild Bill,Janice and George.

Wild Bill and me.
Well it's been a fun day but we're tired and ready to call it a day.Tomorrow it's on to Rapid City.

July 7,2008 Ft.Meade and Bear Butte

We left Gillette,Wy. yesterday with George and Janice Olsen and stayed at Rush No More Campground in Sturgis. Glad we're not here with all those motorcycles. We took off and went to Ft.Meade cemetery and museum. Ft. Meade was known as the Peace Keeper Frontier post of the Black Hills.They have a nice museum and grounds.This cemetery dates back to civil war and there are mostly civil war soliders and lots of children buried here.Here's a picture from the cemetery looking down on Ft. Meade and Bear Butte in background.

George and Sam standing by one of the Canons.

The next stop was to Bear Butte State Park. Bear Butte is a geologic wonder,gold rush landmark and a holy mountain to the Indians. They have a museum here and hiking trails.
Tomorrow we will explore Spearfish Canyon.