2017 Alaska adventure - South Dakota

Friday 7/14/17 we left Salem and drove to Rapid City, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments are located just outside Rapid City. On the way to Rapid City, we passed the Badlands, Wall Drug (no we did not stop), and many windmill farms. Looking across the landscape you can see for what seems like hundreds of miles. Since there is very little to stop the winds, it was a very windy and at times steep drive. We are in a campground that is built into a very steep incline. Every camper coming in has to be escorted to their site and the escort provides guidance in getting into your site. The views are spectacular, but it is a bit unnerving. Today is the hottest that we have had so far – 101 degrees. We were really expecting to have cooler weather in the mountains. It does not sound like it will cool off too much during the next couple of days.

Saturday 7/15 we took the opportunity to do some sightseeing in Black Hills National Forest just outside Rapid City. It was a wonderful adventure seeing the wild life and navigating the narrow twisting mountain roads. In the Custer State Forest we saw 2 buffalo herds, antelope, prairie dogs, and prong horn. On the Needles highway we had to pass through several extremely narrow tunnels cut into the mountains. In a F250 pickup truck we only had inches to spare between us and the tunnel walls. In the Eye of the Needle tunnel, we had to fold in the truck side view mirrors to keep from scraping the walls. The Needles Highway winds through amazing granite

formations reminiscent of needles, organ pipes, and spires.
We took the opportunity to get a little exercise and hiked around Sylvan Lake. Sylan Lake was formed by damming a nature stream. Arising in the middle of the lake are huge granite formations. What a beautiful lake.

Of course we couldn’t miss seeing Mount Rushmore. We had several fabulous views of Mount Rushmore as we wound through the park.