Tag Archives: badlands

WOW Another Monday!

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I dropped the ball today. I usually take time on Sunday to prepare a post for today but instead I went “gallivanting” out to Plymouth Harbor to take pictures. Apparently while out there I caught a cold that has settled into my lower back..OUCH***..But enough excuses..Let me ramble on a little and you can comment with your cheers and jeers .

First Plymouth Harbor is  a pretty little harbor. The Mayflower isn’t out of winter dry dock yet so it was pretty quiet. I like their sea wall. It isn’t just this cement wall rather it’s made of stone and cement. There are rocks set in the top row that kind of point up. It reminds me of a moat on a medieval castle. I think it’s mostly decorative.

 I got a couple of nice sunset pictures. The sunsets this time of year seem to be more pastel than red.

 

When I got home I was reading one of my travel magazines that came Saturday. There was an article about Arizona ...Arizona for all seasons… so I checked that out. It covered the whole state and since we won’t have time for the southern end , south of Phoenix, that section was merely interesting but not useful for our upcoming trip. The northern recommendations involved mostly road trips and did hit some of the high points we have planned. One place that came up in the article and in an article in Popular Photography was Canyon de Chelly. I wish we had time for that but I think this trip is going to be packed to overflowing. We’ll have to see.

 

And the last but not the least thing I want to mention was an article in the same Travel Magazine about The Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota. Sandy and I were there last June and had a wonderful time. In the article this family was there for  2 days…1 weekend….48 hours and they saw, according to the article, everything we saw in a week!

There are pictures with the article too. They even went to Crazy Horse Memorial.

 Like us they used Rapid City as their base but they didn’t mention much more about the city than that. They went to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial (We only drove by Crazy Horse) Wall Drug, The Badlands (can I assume they mean they drove the Badlands Loop?)and Custer State park. They mention seeing buffalo, antelope, big horn sheep, the Beggin’ Burros and prairie dogs…Ok I got all those with my camera too and I bet they didn’t get a prairie dog with a flower either!

Scout

 But to do it all in 48 hours? I like the way we did it much better. Even if the authors think we were slow it seemed like we had full days so I wouldn’t do anything different.

Well, that about wraps up my travel thoughts for the day.

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Not much to say about the spring trip until we start booking and that’s going to be soon. I’ve started exploring options for the 2012 trip but that’s still in the early, early stages..not ready for publication so I’m not sure what we’ll talk about tomorrow but I’ll think of something. Toss out some suggestions if you like. Maybe they will get my creative juices flowing. Maybe Scout has some tips up his furry sleeve.

South Dakota Wrap-up

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This vacation can be summed up in one word…AMAZING! It was so much more than I expected. What a journey of perception to go from “What’s in South Dakota” to “Amazing”.

Everyone’s hot button will be different but for me it’s animals…all kinds of animals. If I’m in Florida I’m always on the look out for creatures, ‘gators, birds, snakes ; when we go to Alaska I’ll want to see seals, sea birds , bears maybe whales and walrus but I didn’t know what to expect in South Dakota.

I think I loved the Wild Horses the best

Racing the Wind

 followed by those funny little prairie dogs.

But seeing buffalo in the wild ,

 not a zoo was really something as were the “beggin’ burros of Custer State Park.

Of course it is “where the deer and the antelope play”.

I couldn’t help but compare my Pronghorn experience in Arizona with the Pronghorn experience in South Dakota. In South Dakota there were Mule Deer, White tail and antelope around every turn. Some even seemed to be posing for the photo ops, very few seemed skittish..

 Sometimes it seemed like they were as busy watching us as we were them. In Arizona I saw 1 pronghorn way off in the distance and 1 mule deer family while I was on a tour bus at the grand canyon. The difference is notable.

We didn’t eat in fancy restaurants but the food was good and everyone we met was nice and helpful. The Foothills Inn was clean and everything as promised. Our stay there was very pleasant. I have no complaints.

Mount Rushmore takes your breath away when you see it for the first time. It is truly a monument for the ages. I only wish the weather had been better when we visited the mountain. Maybe next trip. Sorry I missed the Needles Highway but Iron Mountain Road was a great experience. Had our budget and time allowed, we definitely should have included a visit to Crazy Horse and not just the drive by. Next time?

　

Keystone to Hill City and back on a vintage train. The 1880 Train did not disappoint.

 It was a relaxing ride through the Blackhills while the narrators gave us quick bits and stories sprinkled with lots of humor.

　

　

The caves, Wind Cave and the mining tunnel at Thunder Falls…both interesting and worthwhile visits. There are still many more caves in the area to explore as well as more passages and tours in Wind Cave. I guess you could say we only “scratched the surface”.

The Mammoth Dig isn’t a cave but it’s a great indoor activity for a rainy day. Well worth a visit.

Rapid City is a great city.. We only just touched on what there is to do. I’ve heard there’s shopping and art but we only had the one day so we got to visit Skyline Dr and Dinosaur Park,

 checked out the presidents in downtown

 and ended at the Journey Museum.

The city has a beautiful park as we learned on our trolley ride and so much more that we missed.

It deserves more than one day. To paraphrase a saying…so much to see, so little time J

I can’t forget to mention the “Longest Dirt Road” that crossed Pine Ridge Reservation and meeting with members of the tribe. A nice, nice memory! Maybe next time we’ll find a Pow-Wow and visit Wounded Knee.

We need another visit to Wall Drug with it’s “Free Ice water” . Great souvenir shopping so bring your wallet! They are also online. www.walldrug.com

Last but certainly not least was magnificent scenery of the Badlands. That rugged beauty impressed me as much as the Grand Canyon but in a different way.

I’m so glad I have so many pictures and wonderful memories. My friends said I wouldn’t want to come back to New England. Well, I wasn’t ready to leave South Dakota, there was still so much to see and do, as one of my readers expressed as they told us of waterfalls and sights we missed, but I am not ready to move there. LOL I would consider a 2nd vacation and next time someone says to me “what’s in South Dakota I’ll know just what to say…”So much you just won’t believe it ‘til you see it!”

　

That about sums up the South Dakota vacation. It’s time to start planning the May trip to Sedona, Arizona. I also have some day trips coming up that I will fill you in on as they roll around. As always suggestions, comments , cheers and jeers and welcome. I hope I’ll be hearing from you, my readers!J

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Just a quick reminder…there’s only a few more days to vote for your favorite name for the Prairie Dog.

Prairie Dog with Flower

 You’ll find the poll on the archive site: http://aroundustyroads.blogspot.com

The Journey Museum, Rapid City, South Dakota

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The Journey Museum is a modern facility located in Rapid City. The museum is set in 7 acres of gardens. The premise of the museum is of a journey through the time and history of The Black hills. The journey begins with the Native American Creation stories before moving on to the geology exhibit, paleontology, archeology, Native Americans and the pioneers.

I confess that we didn’t spend the amount of time to do this museum justice. We were limited by the time restraints of the trolley schedule. We also only glimpsed the gardens because by now the weather was taking a turn for the worse.

The geology presentation was interesting if a bit dry. I’m sure “rock hounds” would eat it up but before long I was edging to the back so I could slip into the next exhibit.

The exhibit halls were roomy and well presented and the facilities immaculate. The next room had Teepees set up so you could actually see how the plains Indians lived. There were some holographic presentations but some of them were not functioning. Native American Artifacts and pottery were displayed in cases around the room.

We moved on to the Paleontology exhibit where the dinosaurs seemed to be alive. That was an excellent exhibit.

If I get back to Rapid City I am definitely going to revisit the museum. From what I’ve read, we missed a lot by being pressed for time.

That about wraps up our time in the Badlands. We had an early flight out of Rapid City in the morning so we grabbed the trolley back to the Dinosaur Park where we’d left the car and headed back to the hotel to pack and call it an early night.

Next post: Final thoughts and South Dakota wrap-up