Day 6 - South Dakota - The Bad Lands

We ended up staying at the Bad Lands KOA (KOA, the refuge for those who don't plan, or need a plan with a letter probably after B). It was a nice KOA with lots of trees. Mostly we were pretty tired. Rain threatened but did not materialize.

Had a nice chat with our neighbor. Got air for the Tyre that won't stay full from the nice grounds keeper which contributed to our 11.45 departure.

The Bad Lands were pretty cool, we saw big horn sheep and Buffalo and went on some short hikes.

Yes we climbed this...

It was one of the more technical hikes we took.

We left the Bad Lands at about 4.50 PM heading back through Buffalo Gap and the National Grasslands. Who knew we had National Grass Lands?

Day 5, evening - South Dakota, Bad Lands

 After much driving through prairie, we reached the Bad Lands.  We planned on public land boondocking, but we a) mis-read the map on how to get there. b) found some really amazing wash boarding on the road to get there, c) plan C involved a pot hole that looked as big as the RV - so we skipped that. And eventually settled on the old reliable KOA. And managed to get there just before dark.

We live in a National Forest, but I didn't know there were National Grasslands. I guess that makes sense...

We were going to camp here, but the pot holes just past the cow grate were bigger than we thought we ought to attempt. So ends plan A...

Don't shoot the prairie dogs.

Cool sunset, and exactly where are we camping again?

The Bad Lands at sunset.

Day 5 South Dakota - Mt Rushmore

 My cousin and his wife had to leave early for an antique car show in Tombstone, but left us breakfast and a note to use the shower and feed the fish in the trout pond. We all had a great time feeding the fish.

We left at about 11.00 and headed back to Spearfish, got gas $2.30, 28 gal, 19,589 miles.

We talked to a former Las Vegas stage hand who was running the Trump concession stand. He had lost his job due to the Plague. 

We then passed through Sturgis, saw a really cool stone barn.

At 1.20 PM we arrived at Mount Rushmore. We took advantage of all the ranger talks and found both the site to be way more interesting than we expected and the story of how it got built to be super fascinating.

The sculptor who created Mt Rushmore (bust sculpted by his son who finished the project)

And who's bust of Lincoln was described by Lincoln's son as "I have seen my father as if alive again".

The model used to organize the carving. If they had not run out of 1949 money, it would have looked more like this...

We left Mt Rushmore at 3.47 (so that's about 30 pictures an hour I think) and headed to the Bad Lands, but I think that's the next post.

Day 4 Part 2 - Wyoming and South Dakota

 We headed north east through Wyoming, which once you get into the flats is pretty much like Kansas. Our previous experience at Jackson Hole and Yellowstone were very different (that's a different trip, another story) and by this time of year it was pretty dry. We did see a lot of wind farms as well as oil fields.

We stopped a the very small town, Midwest where the road turned east. Had Louisiana style fried chicken and discovered the sheriff was looking for a runaway. There was a historic oil field, and a pleasant looking town.

Sometime in the afternoon we entered South Dakota. At 8 PM we met my cousin and his wife in Spearfish, South Dakota, and followed them to their "cabin" in the hills above town. Had a wonderful dinner and Moscow Mules, and stayed in their driveway.