Vacation 2016: Let the Sight-Seeing Begin!

We finally got to SD and got our "home" set up. We had a quick breakfast at the cafe at the campground, then our discovery of the Black Hills began.  At the end of the first day, YS & I had a mountain to climb. If you look at the end of the arrow, there is an American Flag there. I climbed that mountain!
YS & I at the top of the mountain:
The "view" of Mt. Rushmore from the top:
 & when we got back to our campsite...just ahead of a thunderstorm:
In the Black Hills, we saw animals:















Monuments:




(This is what it will one day look like:)
Parks:

Beautiful lakes:

Rocks that were tight squeezes:
Brave rock climbers:
(Here's a close up shot)
Rocks that looked like Darth Vader:
 Buddha:
 a dwarf:
& a snail:
 Rocks that had roads cut through them:



 Amazing views:









Famous resting places:
 Wild Bill Hickock's grave:
 Calamity Jane rests right beside him.
This is the grave of a famous madame...the first known madame to franchise her business:
(Side note: that was all there was in Deadwood...except for gambling.)
 Incredible skies:





And one of the highlights of the trip, WINE!

We enjoyed it so much, we went 2 days in a row.
An added plus: there is a brewery right next door!
CH & YS took a ride down an Alpine Slide:



 An interesting site in Custer:
 I found something that reminded me of Berlin, except they have bears, and it's in, well, South Dakota!



We got a good laugh when we saw this shirt.
"The Dragon" is a stretch of road that is partly in the county where I live. It's a big motorcycle destination, but it's also very dangerous (318 curves in 11 miles). Numerous people die every year. "Iron Mountain Road" appeared to be a much safer, better paved road. It boasts 17 miles, 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails, 3 tunnels, 4 presidents (you can see Mt. Rushmore as you go through them), and 2 splits.

We had an awesome time in the Black Hills. After 5 full days, it was time to pack up and head to Colorado for a few days.

6 comments:

  1. Wow!! That's really all I can say. What beautiful country and great photos! I've never been, but my mom went there on vacation with some girlfriends after my dad died. They had such a good time.

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  2. Wow, that's quite a trip! How hot was it there? I can't even go outside here. LOL

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    1. They said it was hotter than usual...upper 80's with only about 40% humidity (which they said was high for them). But it was a "dry heat"! The nights were cool; we had a fire most nights & I put a sweatshirt on once the sun went down.

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  3. Wow! Great trip!
    Thanks for sharing your photos.

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  4. Wow!! MAry, this is fantastic! And I'm so glad you had your son to experience it with :) The pictures are great. I can imagine how in awe you were every time you turned around. That slide looks fun and the graves, so interesting!

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  5. VERY cool! Great pics, and way to climb that mountain! Most of the animals didn't surprise me, but I didn't know that there were marmots in the Black Hills; I would've thought the elevation was too low. But maybe since it's farther north? Anyway, I like the little guys, so it's fun that you got to see some.

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