The owner Jerry was very friendly and helpful! We caught more of these bluebirds around camp here:
While here in Custer we checked out the Crazy Horse museum & monument in process:
When finished it will look something like this:
The museum had a lot of Native American history & artifacts that were worth checking out too. From here we continued on to Mt Rushmore. From a distance it didn't seem as large as we thought it would be:
But when you hiked up the trail to the base of the monument it looked much more impressive:
The scenic drive nearby through Custer State Park had tunnels strategically carved in the mountain side so you would see the monument through the tunnels:
Custer State Park is one of the largest SPs parks in the US. We spent several days driving around and through it. Several times we had to stop for the buffalo crossing the street:
There we many buffalo calves in the herds:
We saw hundreds of deer in and out of the park too. Some tried to hide:
But many weren't bothered by us at all:
We also saw several prong horn deer:
And some hanging out with the hundreds of local prairie dogs:
We saw a handful of hawks and this one stayed still long enough to capture:
There are many beautiful lakes within Custer SP including Sylvan Lake:
There's a section of the scenic drive called the Needles for its needle like rock structures:
Along the needles scenic drive was a needle eye tunnel (8'4" wide):
After folding the mirrors in and creeping along, we made it through:
While in Custer I made a trip back home where I was able to make it up to Maine to see my 93 year young grandmother who is recovering from a tough fall - You look Great Gram!
When I got back we made our way from Custer up to Wall SD where we camped at Sleepy Hollow campground. Once setup we checked out Wall Drug very close by - way too much hype on this place! Don't go out of your way but if in the hood, check it out:
A few miles away is an entrance to the Badlands National Park. Our first day in we took the Sage Creek Rim Rd where we found some beautiful scenery:
Note the herd of buffalo in the valley:
Several calves here too:
and a few elk among the buffalo too:
We caught this coyote on the prowl:
and this deer hiding just around the corner:
They have an area called Prairie Dog town but it's more like a city there are so many of these guys.
Some had done more with their landscaping:
Another day was rainy and overcast but still a nice drive through the park toward Interior (pop 67):
Sections of the drive wound through these amazing erosions & rolling green hills:
On the morning we were leaving the sun was breaking through the clouds so we took a quick ride through the park:
We tracked down a few families of mountain goats. This Nannie was carefully watching the kids jumping around the steep cliff with a 150ft straight drop below her:
This small herd was enjoying the view on a very narrow strip of land with very steep walls:
We left Wall for Rapid City to have some work done on the truck and trailer. The folks at MidStates RV were very helpful. We ended up staying on site at MidStates for a couple of nights (Elec & water for free). While here we visited Sturgis 20 miles west while here but it looks like this town is closed down until bike weather arrives. Also stopped by the impressive National Cemetery where many WWII vets were buried:
We headed an hour west to Spearfish SD where we stayed at Chris' RV Campground. Owners very friendly and great off-season rates for full hookups including cable and wifi. Sites 55 & 56 have great views! While here in Spearfish, we drove up the Spearfish Canyon. We saw several waterfalls including bridal veil:
Along the way we caught this woodchuck trying to hide in the brush:
And worth the 2.5 mile dirt road drive up to Roughlock Falls:
Even though it's supposed to rain for the next week in this area, we decided to check out Devils Tower in Wyoming about 55 miles away. When we arrived, the weather wasn't looking so pretty:
At the base we decided to go for the hike around the tower anyway and within 5 mins the clouds cleared away and the sun came out just long enough to make it around the tower!
While hiking around the tower we ran into this guy who wasn't bothered much by us:
And grazing around the base of the tower we found this longhorn:
So it was a great visit to South Dakota. We're now off to T. Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota for a couple days before we start heading further west into Montana. More to come . . .
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