July 2018

(To see our previous posts, view the links in "Behind Us")

07-31-18 Yesterday, we traveled to Salem, South Dakota. Not too much here. Tomorrow we will go south to Nebraska for a couple of nights.

07-28-18 We traveled to The Badlands National Park, South Dakota, and stayed for a few nights at the White River/Badlands KOA just a couple of miles from the park gates. What a beautiful but desolate area!

The Badlands are eroding at the rate of about one inch a year. They are made up of layers of sediment on what was once an ocean. These jagged peaks are not stone, they are compressed dirt. If you scuff it with your shoe, it comes apart very easily.

The road goes up on the edge of the Badlands and people can walk out onto the peaks. In this picture, you can see the paths out onto the left and right peak. And yes, it really does drop off in a VERY steep manner. We saw some guy posing for pictures out there, after walking out the path which is about 12 inches wide. I have to wonder how many rescues take place up here every week. I'll bet the EMS people are really good at it! They must get a lot of practice. There are no fences or barriers of any kind.

Yep. Right behind me is a huge drop. I'm kneeling on part of the lookout, right next to the parking lot. Needless to say, I didn't stay there long.

And Bob. You can see the path worn by people walking out to the point by Bob's left shoulder. Not us, though.

There is a huge prairie dog colony in the Badlands, probably more than one. They sure are cute, but they dive into their holes if if someone starts walking toward them. I had to take pictures with a telephoto lense.

There are hundreds of burrows in the colony and there are prairie dogs standing up at many of them. They "bark" to each other, which sounds like "Chip" "Chip" "Chip." Sometimes one pops out of one hole, scurries over to another, and jumps in.

This young coyote crossed the road right in front of us just after we left the look out. He looked like he was maybe six months old; almost full grown but not an adult.

I hope he wises up before somebody hits or shoots him.

07-24-18 The Crazy Horse monument is beginning to take shape. In 1939, the Lakota Chiefs approached Korczak Ziolkowski to carve a statue of Chief Crazy Horse from a South Dakota Mountain. He agreed, and started work in 1948. Knowing that the project would last beyond his lifetime, he left explicit instructions on the project. When he died in 1982, his wife, Ruth and their children continued working on the project. Wisely, Korczak refused offers of funding from the government, and progress on the carving proceeds as funds allow. Since the completion of the face, donations have increased dramatically.

The carving is only a part of the overall plan for the Crazy Horse Memorial. On the grounds, there is a large welcome center, museum, gift shop, resaurant and theater in the main building, along with a college. Plans for the future include a medical facilty.

This is a photo of the carving today. The face was completed in 1998 and unveiled to the public. Work is continuing on Crazy Horse's arm and hand. Work goes on all year, unless the temperature drops below 40 degrees below zero or there are thunder storms in the area. We could see this view from a distance at our campground.

This is a scale model of the finished carving. You can see the real carving in the background. They are working on Crazy Horse's arm, finger and hand now. They hope to have it done in 2023. Because of improvements in carving techniques and donations, perhaps it will be sooner.

We took a van tour to the top of the mountain to see the carving up close. It is hard to envision how large the sculpture is until you are standing next to it. Here is a picture of me and Bob standing beside the chin.

A close shot of the eyes. They are twenty feet across.

This is a shot from the base of the mountain. You can see the outline of the horse on the side of the cliff.

This picture is of a display of the explosives they use on the mountain. Don Miner's company donates some of the explosives.

07-23-18 We took a ride to the 1880 Black Hills Central Railroad facility. They have a very nice museum and rail yard. We bought a round-trip ticket from Hill City to Keystone SD.

This is the old steam engine that pulled the train. It is a 2-6-6-2T articulated Mallet built in 1929. There were seven passenger cars, almost full of riders.

There was quite a bit of nice scenery along the route. This is an old, abandoned shack near the rails.

07-22-18 Today we went to Wind Cave National Park. Wind Cave it thought to be approximately 149 miles long, winding around below just one acre of surface land. They still have not explored all of it. Exploration is done once a year by experienced cave explorers. It takes a team eight hours to reach the unexplored portion of the cave and they spend two days further mapping the cave.

The cave "breaths." Although the native Lakota knew of the breathing cave for many generations, it was originally "found" in 1881 when two men heard rushing wind and found a 12" by 10" hole in the ground through which air was moving. In 1889, Alvin McDonald, a teenager of the McDonald family who worked for the South Dakota Mining Company, squeezed himself through the opening and started to explore the cave. They dynamited a better entrance to the cave and it became a destination for tourists.

A ranger holds a piece of yelow plastic near the natural entrance to Wind Cave. You can see that the cave was "breathing" out, equalizing the pressure inside the cave with the outside air pressure. From the picture, it looks like a large cave opening, but it isn't. I've outlined the 12" by 10" opening in red. This was the only opening to the cave before a larger hole was blasted into the cave.

One of the rock formations in Wind Cave

07-20-18 We are staying at the Heritage Village Campground just outside the Crazy Horse Memorial in Custer, South Dakota. It is a nice small campground, very reasonably priced. $26 a night for full hookups, a nice laundry and very large, clean bathrooms. What a bargain!

Today we drove through Custer State Park and saw a herd of buffalo. They were right by the road, and were totally unconcerned about the cars. Some strolled across the road causing traffic to stop.

This evening, we went to Mount Rushmore. Very impressive!

07-18-18 We stayed in Gary Owen Montana at the 7th Ranch RV Park. It was very nice. There was a lovely sunset.

07-16-18 We went to the Battlefield of Little Bighorn today. It is a very sad place, both for the soldiers and the indians.

The marker where Custer fell is markedd in black.

In 2003, a monument to the indians was added to the Little Bighorn Memorial Battlefield.

07-12-18 We left Madison Arms RV Park a day early and went to Gardiner Montana. It was a nice park right outside the North Entrance of Yellowstone. We went back to Yellowstone and toured Mamouth Hot Springs. Here are the pictures.

Here we are at the North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park

So, we drove through Yellowstone looking for wildlife. Where did we find elk? Browsing on the well-groomed green in the middle of the Yellowstone administration offices town of Mamouth Springs. The green is in the center by the post office, the hotel, trading post and lots of housing for Yellowston personnel. There is a constant flow of traffic, most who pulled over the take pictures.

A fawn on the green.

Daddy Elk.

Mamouth Hot Springs

Mamouth Hot Springs

07-08-18 We left Idaho Falls and travelled to West Yellowstone, Montana. We stayed at Madison Arms RV Park which was very nice but isolated. When we made the reservation, we were told that there was a 5.5 mile dirt road in to the campground. Unfortunately, that road was badly washboarded, and top speed was between 5 and 10 miles per hour and things in the camper were tossed around. It took 30 minutes to drive in from the main road. Also, cell phone service was almost non-existant. Wifi was available, but sporadic and undependable. So, we were pretty well out of touch.

We drove into Yellowstone Park and went to Old Faithful and some hot springs. Here are pictures:

The Madison River runs along the road from the West Entrance to Yellowstone. There are lots of fishermen out fishing.

Another shot of the Madison River

The Depsydra Geyer

One of the colorful hot springs

Old Faithful erupts every 90 minutes, give or take 10 minutes. We waited for a LONG time for it in the hot sun. We could see another geyser about a mile away repeatedly going off. When Old Faithful finally erupted, it was a little disappointing. I don't think it was a very powerful eruption.

And, of course, we saw a buffalo grazing beside the road. We saw several buffalo while we were in the park, but always by themselves. I thought they were herd animals. This one caused a backup of traffic for miles.

07-07-18 We looked around Idaho Falls. There is a lot of building happening here. We took a walk yesterday on the Greenbelt. It is a lovely park on the Snake River. There are lots of benches designed by artists and bicycle paths. Here are some photos.

These falls are part of the Idaho Falls. Behind you can see the water coming over the dam which creates a pool for power generation. The Greenbelt takes up both sides of the Snake River

Another shot of the Idaho Falls from the Greenbelt.

A popular site on the Greenbelt are the topiary bears. They stay on the Greenbelt all summer and spend the winter in a greenhouse. They were put back out on the Greenbelt the day we arrived in Idaho Falls and are very popular.

07-02-18 We travelled to Idaho Falls in Idaho today. We are staying at Snake River RV Park, which is nice. They have pancakes every morning, all you can eat for $3! Very convenient.

Our state map is filling up!