Nice Hills
Woke up in Sturgis around and started heading for Mount Rushmore. I was happy that the sun was finally shining, and it was a little warmer outside. As we entered the National Monument we had to stop and pay for an annual parking pass, 8$. Outrageous, that's more than I would pay to park in downtown Seattle!
I was very impressed with all the president's faces and all the granite buildings associated with the park. But I guess when you blow up a granite mountain you have a lot of material to work with. 90% of the monument was carved with dynomite.
With a quick stop at Walmart for more yarn for Sammie's newfound crochet addiction - we were now headed for some true americana - Wall Drug. I would have to say that Wall Drug is the Oriental Trading retail store in the flesh. I have never seen such a glorified collection of junk - but man was it fun to walk through! I even got to ride a Jackalope and drink some free ice water.
We then took the scenic route through the Badlands National Park. Those are some cool views - especially the cowboy with the lasso! (See Samantha's pictures) Ridiculous!! The Badlands were awesome and I wish we had more time to stop and take a bike ride though the park. The hills were cool with the shadows and there were natural yellow, red and purple colorings.
It was starting to get late so we decided to get dinner. After dinner we stopped by the Corn Palace. This palace is actually a local high school basketball arena whose exterior is covered with murals of the rodeo made out of different colors of corn. (Every so often the murals are changed, but always made of corn, of course)
South Dakota is a big state. We left the state about 11 and camped in Minnesota.
This morning we were awoken by a lot of cows mooing. (could've been sheep or horses as well) And some weird people drumming. It was weird, but the sun is shining and its going to be another great driving day as we head to Chicago today!
I was very impressed with all the president's faces and all the granite buildings associated with the park. But I guess when you blow up a granite mountain you have a lot of material to work with. 90% of the monument was carved with dynomite.
With a quick stop at Walmart for more yarn for Sammie's newfound crochet addiction - we were now headed for some true americana - Wall Drug. I would have to say that Wall Drug is the Oriental Trading retail store in the flesh. I have never seen such a glorified collection of junk - but man was it fun to walk through! I even got to ride a Jackalope and drink some free ice water.
We then took the scenic route through the Badlands National Park. Those are some cool views - especially the cowboy with the lasso! (See Samantha's pictures) Ridiculous!! The Badlands were awesome and I wish we had more time to stop and take a bike ride though the park. The hills were cool with the shadows and there were natural yellow, red and purple colorings.
It was starting to get late so we decided to get dinner. After dinner we stopped by the Corn Palace. This palace is actually a local high school basketball arena whose exterior is covered with murals of the rodeo made out of different colors of corn. (Every so often the murals are changed, but always made of corn, of course)
South Dakota is a big state. We left the state about 11 and camped in Minnesota.
This morning we were awoken by a lot of cows mooing. (could've been sheep or horses as well) And some weird people drumming. It was weird, but the sun is shining and its going to be another great driving day as we head to Chicago today!
posted by gregggemin at 7:50 AM
2 Comments:
My Dad coached basketball at the Mitchell Corn Palace. There's a bit of local history for you!
If you turn gregggemin upside down, it makes 666.
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