Bison

Yes, all those black dots are bison.  Toward the end of our ride through the Badlands I realized that I had forgotten to get gas in Wall.  The light alerted me to my mistake.  Before too long, thank goodness, we saw a sign reading Interior 2 miles.  We asked the woman at the gate whether or not there was a gas station in Interior.  There was.  Saved by the "bell."  We returned to the park for the last section leading back to Interstate 90.  Before long we were on our way across the prairie to Sioux Falls.

Fauna

We're not quite sure what kind of sheep/goats these animals are.

The Pioneer?

So Much More

Amazing Lanscapes

What can I say?

The Badlands National Park

Just a few miles from Wall is the entrance to the Badlands National Park, our second destination.

Wall Drug

Our first stop was in Wall.  Wall's population is 766, but it's claim to fame is Wall Drug, a large commercial complex that was established in 1931.  I have to thank Mike Ebbers for telling me about Wall Drug.  However, we would have had to be driving blind not to see the dozens of road signs leading us there.

Cowboys

Consider all our travels through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota, this was the first time we saw any cowboys.  These were herding cattle down a hill along Interstate 90.

Week Two: Saturday's Route

This morning we set off west to east across South Dakota, with two planned stops: Wall Drug and the Badlands National Park.

Pronghorn

Before we saw the burros, Nancy managed to get pictures of this handsome dude.  Pronghorns are the fastest land animals in North America.

The Long and Winding Road

The road in no way suggests how windy some of the road we traveled through the hills but I liked the picture.  After we left the park and got back to Rapid City, we hunted down a grocery story and found a Walmart instead.  We're getting a bit weary eating out, so we just bought some food to eat in our room.

Mule Deer

Two of these were quite close to the road.

Wild Burros

These burros are not native to the park but are descended from those used to haul visitors to the top of Harney Peak, one of the mountains in the Black Hills.

Bison

After not seeing much more than whitetail deer, a rabbit, a chipmunk and red-winged blackbird perched on the top of last year's common mullein (wild lamb's ear), we finally spotted some bison in the distance.

Vista

There were several opportunities to get shots like this.

Tunnels

We passed through several of these very narrow tunnels that had been carved through the rocks.

The Needles

It started raining wild we were in the park, but it didn't keep us from getting some pictures of these rock formations known as "The Needles."

Wild Sweet Pea

After Deadwood we headed south to Custer State Park, where we hoped to see some wildlife.  The first animal we saw was whitetail deer.  There was a lot of this wild sweet pea throughout the park too.

Bighorn Sheep Signs

We saw several of these signs but unfortunately we saw no bighorn sheep.

Kevin Costner's Diamond Lil's Bar and Grill

We had lunch at Diamond Lil's Bar and Grill, owned by Kevin Costner.  The place was decorated with his movie paraphernalia.  Downstairs was a small casino.

Larry the Cable Guy

This shot is for Dan.  I had an interesting conversation with this guy in one of the souvenir shops.

Wild Bill Hickok

 

Wild Bill Hickok enjoys far more celebrity than he deserves, but if Deadwood can support itself promoting interest in this man, so be it.  By the way, we had a fantastic tour guide.  He was quite the comic.

Deadwood

None of the original buildings are left because of a fire, but the top shot is of Main Street and the second was taken from the cemetery where Wild Bil Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried.

Deadwood, North Dakota

Our first destination was Deadwood, the famous gold rush boom town where Wild Bill Hickok was killed.

Week Two: Friday's Route

We spent the day seeing some interesting and mighty beautiful country.  The loop we took did not include the spur at the south end of the park shown on the map.

Mount Rushmore

How about this icon?

The Black Hills

Lakota Dancers

A descendant of Crazy Horse's, with his son and grandson, demonstrated some Lakota dancing in full native costume.

Beads

I thought this display was fascinating.  It's jars of beads arranged like a rainbow.  This is only half of them.

Crazy Horse Memorial

This memorial is quite moving.  Korczak Ziolkowski started working on it in 1948 and seven of his children are continuing his work since his death in 1982.

Welcome to South Dakota

South Dakota is number five, the fifth new state.  We will probably do two more, leaving just seven left to do some time in the future.

Wyoming Prairie

And on and on and on . . .

The Classic Prairie Icon

We had to get this shot.  What would the prairie be without this image.  Look at how bright the grass is.

Blue Flax

This blue flax surrounded the rest area we stopped at in the Wyoming prairie.  When we were in the gift shop at the Crazy Horse Memorial, I bought some blue flax, blazing star and Turk's cap lily seeds.