This is more or less the halfway point. One Dakota down, one to go.
We went from Up Dakota to Down Dakota on the last day of July, passing through Bowman, ND, the last stop up there. It was just a small stop at the Pioneer Trails Museum, a little spot dedicated to life in the Dakotas in the pioneer days and before:
Since this leg's drive was fairly long, it made sense to stop here and there along the way to break it up. Not long after Bowman, we crossed the state line. Officially in South Dakota!
We next stopped in Belle Fourche, SD, which is a town whose name I still do not know how to pronounce. Here, we saw the geographic center of the United States:
Which, technically, is a few miles away, but this was the closest town, so it gets the marker. The spot used to be in Kansas, but then we had to go and add Alaska and Hawaii and, well, that shifted it north.
Lunch followed at a place called the Leaky Pot, a coffee and sandwich shop.
Which was an excellent find.
We were staying in Custer for the night, due to its proximity to the points of interest for the day, but for the moment we drove on directly to Wind Cave National Park, just to be sure we got a tour before they sold out for the day. We were successful, and set out on the 4:20 Natural Entrance Tour. I was expecting a gigantic cave mouth with winding stairs descending into the depths, but the real natural entrance looks like this:
Just that little hole in the lower left. That's where the wind comes out, giving the cave its name.
We swung around to the unnatural entrance, since going in the natural way would be a tight squeeze, and headed on into the cave. We got to see the boxwork, a formation seen apparently only here and on Mars:
as well as standard cave-like features:
Once the tour was over, we made it back up to Custer and our hotel, dropped our things, got dinner, and then moved onto the landmark most of you are probably anticipating: Mt. Rushmore:
I'm aware of the controversy, but I'll make no comments in either direction here.
As you can see, we went at night. Fifteen years ago, I came to South Dakota with my church youth group, and at the end of that trip we did a bit of sightseeing, including Mt. Rushmore. That had been midday, so for this go-around, we decided to do something a bit different and go at night, where apparently they have a lighting ceremony and stay open for a few hours after dark.
The ceremony is mildly jingoistic, as you might expect, with some America quotes from the four heads of Rushmore, some positive statements about the military, and a video about the history and whatnot, which to their credit, includes the Native American treatment with no frills. Then, the spotlight!
And a parting shot as we hurried to beat the crowds leaving, which looks kinda cool:
That was it for probably our lengthiest day on the trip. The next day was much more relaxed, making our way up to Rapid City, not quite an hour north. On the way there, we stopped by the Reptile Gardens:
which was basically a reptile-centric zoo. And I got to fulfill a bucket list item I didn't even know I had: petting a giant tortoise!
Meet Samson. He's 116 years old and he seemed to appreciate the head scritches.
I also got to put my head in a dome and see a prairie dog up close:
Arriving in Rapid City proper, we found yet another hidden gem of a coffee shop for lunch, Essence of Coffee:
The Rapid City day was intended to be a more low-key, relaxing day, so we did just a couple of walking around town things, like the Art Alley:
the town square:
and the statues of every president:
did I get a picture with every single one? Well, yeah. Of course.
In the evening, we went to Memorial Park, where they have a piece of the Berlin Wall for some reason:
Dinner next, then hotel. Told you, a relaxed day.
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