South Dakota Trip Day Four

Greetings from the Black Hills. The weather was beautiful, so we decided to drive the southern Black Hills area. We visited Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, drove the Needles Highway and saw the Crazy Horse Monument. No words can really describe the sights, so we'll let the pictures do the talking: Needles Highway:

Sylvan Lake:

Wildlife in Custer State Park:

Crazy Horse Monument:

Mt. Rushmore:

Tomorrow we will head north to Sturgis, Belle Fourche, Deadwood and Lead.

Your tired but happy travelers,

Susan and Denis

South Dakota Trip Day Three

Dateline: Rapid City, Sunday Sept. 6

Greetings all blog followers! We have arrived in Rapid City. We got to town around 4:00 Mountain Time (there was a time zone change just a few miles outside of Murdo). After checkintg in to our hotel, we headed for downtown to see the statues of the Presidents. Life-sized statues were created in bronze by five South Dakota artists. Beginning in 2000, two Presidents from the beginning of the American nation and two from the contemporary past were placed on Rapid City's downtown streets, with a projected completion of all past predisents in 2010. We took the walking tour downtown, which comprised a six by two block area, some of which was the downtown historical district. We snapped each Presiden't picture, and then went for some dinner. We opted for the familiar tonight for dinner, Golden Corral buffet. We left Mitchell this morning after 9:00 this morning, and stopped for a picnic breakfast at the Missouri River rest area at Chamberlain. This rest area was on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. It was cool yet in the morning, and quite windy. These shots were taken at our breakfast stop.

We noticed a definate change in the terrain as we moved east to west across the state. East of the Missouri River was mostly flat, farm land. West of the river was rolling hills of prairie grass, very few crops (mostly acres and acres of sunflowers), and as we got close to Rapid City, no crops were grown, the land was just used as range for cattle. There were very few trees, and one rest area had no trees at all.
We stopped at Murdo to visit the Pioneer Auto Museum complex. We saw over 150 antique and collector cars, as well as gas pumps, childrens pedal cars, tractors, rocks, a prairie town with buildings, a railroad caboose, and much more. After our tour, we ate lunch in Murdo before pushing on to Rapid City.

We have had great weather so far. It was 88 degrees in Rapid City when we arrived. Needless to say, we Wisconsinites from the cold northland aren't used to such warm weather, especially this summer. It sure felt good on the skin, tho.

We haven't yet decided what the plan is for tomorrow. We can either do the southern Black Hills, Mt Rushmore, Wind or Jewel Cave, and Custer State Park, OR do the northern Black Hills region, Deadwood, Lead, Sturgis, and Belle Fourche. Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment of our travelogue to find out what we decided.

Your intrepid travelers,

Susan and Denis

To our devoted followers...thanks for the daily comments. Keep 'em coming!

South Dakota Trip Day Two

Greetings from Mitchell,

We left La Crosse this morning about 7:30 in very heavy fog. We couldn't enjoy the view along the river, but the fog lifted about 5 miles after we turned inland. We stopped for a breakfast picnic just west of Austin, MN. Here we are at breakfast.We encountered some road construction, mostly new bridge work in the larger cities, courtesy of the Stimulus Bill. We were told today that ther is a 20 mile stretch of road construction between Mitchell and Rapid City, so it will be a little slower going. We are not pushing ourselves, so a little bit of a slowdown doesn't bother us much. There has been very little traffic, and we were able to cruise along pretty well, especially since the speed limit on I-90 here in SD is 75! We stopped at a wayside for a picnic lunch just outside of Adrian, MN. We arrived in Mitchell about 2:30 this afternoon.
Mitchell is a small prairie town, about 14,000 people. The big draw, of course, is the Corn Palace. Here are some snapshots of the outside and inside. The decorations are all made of colored ears of corn. A very odd and usual place.

We also toured the Dakota Discovery Museum. Here is a picture of a hide tipi at the museum. We ate in the renovated train station, aptly named The Depot. After supper, we took a tour of the rest of Mitchell, and watched the sunset at Mitchell Lake.Tomorrow we are back on the road as we head for Rapid City. We plan a picnic breakfast and lunch on the road, as well as a stop at the Pioneer Auto Museum at Murdo. See you then!

Susan and Denis

South Dakota Road Trip Day One

Greetings all blog followers,

After much anticipation and preparation, we are finally on our way. We decided to drive to LaCrosse today after work and to make it our departure location for points west. We made one stop at a wayside outside of Neceedah, a nice little park along the Wisconsin River, where this photo was taken.

We arrived in LaCrosse about 6:30, checked into our hotel, and ate some dinner at a cute restaurant/bar in Onalaska, the Blue Moon. It is just across the highway from a cute little wayside overlooking Lake Onalaska. This is where this sunset photo was taken.

Tomorrow we want to get an early start heading west across Minnesota and on to Mitchell. More from Mitchell tomorrow night.

South Dakota Itinerary

Greetings Friends and Visitors!
Our road trip to South Dakota is about to begin! Here is our itinerary, so you can follow along on our journey:

Friday, Sept. 4. We will travel to La Crosse, WI and stay the night. We wanted to get a jump on the long ride to Mitchell the next day.
Saturday, Sept. 5. This will be our long traveling day, driving from La Crosse to Mitchell, SD. We are figuring about 10 hours of driving time, with meal, gas, and bathroom breaks built in. We hope to be in Mitchell by dinnertime.
Sunday, Sept. 6. We plan to take a look at the Corn Palace in Mitchell before we head out again toward Rapid City. Time permitting, we might also stop at the Pioneer Auto Museum complex at Murdo. We hope to arrive in Rapid City by early evening. Rapid City will be our base for the next four days. We hope to have some extra time to visit the downtown area and see the President statues on display. We also are planning to take in a dinner show at the Flying T Chuckwagon one evening.
Monday, Sept..7. We are planning to spend this day exploring the natural beauty of the Black Hills. We will drive the Needles Highway, see Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, and tour Wind Cave National Park.
Tuesday, Sept. 8. We will head to the northern part of the Black Hills this day to Deadwood and Lead, tour a gold mine, travel on to Sturgis and Belle Fourche.
Wednesday, Sept. 9. We will be visiting the Wall area on this day, including, of course, Wall Drug, but also taking in Prairie Homestead, Badlands National Park, and touring the Minuteman Missile Silo on Ellsworth AFB.
Thursday, Sept. 10. We will be in the heart of the Black Hills this day, and will take a ride on the 1880 Steam Train that runs between Keystone and Hill City.
Friday, Sept. 11. After an early morning tour of the Black Hills Gold factory, we will say good-bye to the Black Hills and head east toward our next destination, Sioux Falls. Time permitting, we might stop again in Mitchell, to visit the Dakota Discovery Museum. We hope to arrive in Sioux Falls at dinnertime.
Saturday, Sept. 12. We plan to spend all day in the downtown area of Sioux Falls. We will visit Falls Park and tour the downtown area. We are particularly interested in SculptureWalk, a collection of sculptures on display by local artists. The Sidewalk Arts Festival is also taking place this weekend.
Sunday, Sept. 13. This will be our long traveling day back to Wisconsin. Our arrival date at home is open-ended, since we haven’t yet decided to stay out one more night, or push on for home. Only time (and our level of fatigue) will tell on this one.

These, of course, are the things we hope to do and see. We are planning to follow the plan as close as possible, rain or shine. We might, of course, find something else to see and do along the way, too. And, as always, we will be on the lookout for the “odd and unusual”. We will be posting every night, along a sampling of photos from the day. We hope you will join us on our journey.