Sioux Falls South Dakota

The day started cold and raining with no immediate forecast for anything different. So it’s time to move on.  We left the Badlands at 8:00 this morning and checked into the Towers campground in Sioux Falls around 2:00 this afternoon.  The rain held off most of the day but the skies remained threatening.

The lady at the campground office suggested that we drive downtown to Falls Park to see the falls. The water level is high and the falls are quite pretty. We have been through Sioux Falls before but never knew about the falls or Falls Park.

Tomorrow will be our last day on the road. It has been a fantastic trip for us, one we will always remember. Thanks for being part of it and we hope you enjoyed it.  

Rich and Chris

Falls Park

Falls Park

Falls Park

Falls Park

Falls Park

Falls Park

Falls Park

Badlands of South Dakota

 

The bad weather from the Black Hills reached us sometime during the night. High winds, some rain and a drop in temperature. With threatening rains this morning we thought we would drive into town, Wall, and hope the weather would clear up in the afternoon. By the time we returned from town the weather had change and was pretty nice. Lunch and an afternoon hike became the order of the day.

We chose the Medicine Root Loop trail. The trail is a moderate trail which generally consists of flat grass prairie hiking with views of the Badlands in the distance. We did encounter a rattle snake that seemed very annoyed that we were invading his territory. After a few minutes of no one making a move we figured out what we had to do to vacate the area without any unfortunate incidents. It was a couple of tense minutes however.  

The day ended with a beautiful sunset.

Wall Drug

Main Street Wall South Dakota

Main Street Wall South Dakota

Blue Bird

Meadow Lark with Lunch

Medicine Root Loop Trail

Medicine Root Loop Trail

Medicine Root Loop Trail

Medicine Root Loop Trail

Clover

Prairie Rose

Small Flowers along the trail

There's a snake in there

Badlands Sunset

Badlands Sunset

View From Notch Trail

With the threat of rain, high winds and much cooler temperatures we decided to leave the Black Hills and head for the Badlands in hopes of staying a head of the weather. We stayed off the freeway and took a scenic drive instead. The drive was great, very little traffic and beautiful scenery. We were setup in the Cedar Pass campground by noon. Since we were here last they have installed electric at some of the camp sites. We were able to get a nice site with electric which was great because it was hot and we ran our air conditioner for a while.

After getting settled in, we took a hike called the Notch Trail. This hike is considered moderate to strenuous however it was only a mile and a half in distance.  The trail was steep and narrow in spots with high drop offs and a strenuous climb up a log ladder. Going up was much easier than coming down. The trail ended at a spectacular over look.

We ended the day by having steaks on the grill and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Tomorrow we are going to visit Wall Drug. Anyone visiting South Dakota has to visit Wall Drug.

Cedar Pass Campground

Notch Trail

Easier up than down!!

View from Top of Notch Trail

Relaxing In The Black Hills

The forecast for today called for sunny skies and temperatures in the 80's so we decided to drive around the area and see some sights. The drive started with a very narrow, hilly and curvy road which included three very narrow tunnels. The road was constructed in such a way that Mount Rushmore is visible from each tunnel. Unfortunately, I was not successful at showing the monument in my photos. You will just have to take my word for it that you can see the monument from these locations.

                  I'm glad we had the car and not the motor home when we came upon these tunnels.

Keystone was the first stop. Keystone is right in the heart of the area and sits right next to Mount Rushmore. It is very touristy, as all the cities in the area are, with many souvenir and gift stores along with cafes and restaurants. Keystone is also a stop along the 1880's steam train route.

The next stop was Hill City. Another touristy town with plenty of shops. Hill City may be a little more artsy then Keystone as the following photo shows.                                                                  

This horse was one of many creations we saw around town made entire from scrap metal, gears,chains,old tools, etc.etc. I know I saw a large crescent wrench on one of the back legs. We then continued on into Custer City. Again we walked around a little before stopping and having lunch.

                      On the drive back to the campgrounds we saw this guy along side the road.

A little further down the road we saw this guy and shortly after this we saw the donkey that we saw yesterday.

South Dakota May 20

We left Glendo this morning and drove to Custer South Dakota and we are camped at Spokane Creek Campgrounds. We had wanted to go directly into Custer State Park but are having some water pipe problems that must be fixed before we can go and camp without hookups. Our campgrounds is about two miles from the State Park entrance.

The drive through eastern Wyo was beautiful, it is very hilly and wide open, and we saw so many Antelope. We would love to came back here, the Laramie Mts. and the Wyo badlands look very interesting.

Old country school house

Eastern Wyoming

Black Hills Fire

Black Hills Fire

Wild Donkey Along the Road