The Munchkin's Notebook

Last night we tried to get some sunset pictures at Badlands NP, however the clouds cover was just too thick.  The sun could not break through the clouds, thus there were no colors in the sky. So I do not have any good sunset photos. Today was our last day in South Dakota, we fly home tomorrow. Since today was our last day, we took it easy and did not do much. We attempted to walk the petrified forest trail in one of Rapid City’s park, but there was no map, so we couldn’t tell where the trail was.  So we went to the Reptile Garden , established in 1937. The Reptile Garden is a garden and wildlife park that specializes in reptiles. We got there right before the crocodile and alligator show, where they tell you a bit about crocodiles and alligators and how to wrestle one.  It was interesting. We also saw their prairie dog exhibit and pet some giant tortoises. The jungle dome was interesting. In the middle of the lower level you walk along a path in an enclosed a...

Today we headed over to Wyoming to see Devil’s Tower.  Yes that is the tower that was in the movie “Close Encounter of the Third Kind”. It was a two hour drive to get there, on mostly empty freeway.  When we go there the main parking lot by the visitor center was full, so we parked in one of the auxiliary lots. We checked out the visitor center, then did the 1.25 mile loop around the base of the rock formation.  It was a decent walk, with only one major uphill section at the beginning. After, we completed our hike we drove to Deadwood. We went to Deadwood, which has a historic main street.  Deadwood is also the place where Wild Bill, and Calamity Jane  got their claim to fame. Overall, the town isn’t that interesting. It has casinos, mostly slot machines, in every store and restaurant. Also, the town smells faintly of stale cigarette smoke.  I would not recommend stopping in Deadwood, just not worth the diversion. We also drove through Sturgis, also n...

Formation in Wind Cave We went back down to Wind Cave this morning to do a cave tour.  We got down to the Wind Cave Visitor center a bit before 9:00 AM so we missed out on the 9:00 AM cave tour, so we took the 10:00 AM cave tour.  While walking around the visitor center to kill some time, we ran into a couple I graduated highschool with. They were there for their family vacation.  We did the hour and half natural entrance cave tour, which was led by a park ranger from Puerto Rico. The ranger was entertaining while being informative.  The cave itself is interesting, but it does not have the large stalagmites and stalactites that other caves have, it also does not have any bats or living creatures in it.  Also, the cave is a dry cave, so there is no additional formations being made. It is a nice cave and I would do one of the other tours, but I thought Luray Caverns had more interesting features.   After the cave tour we went and had lunch at the Dew...

Today involved trains, wine, and a monument.  We got up early to drive down to Hill City, to ride the 1880 Steam Train. The train is an old steam train that travels between Hill City and Keystone on a mine line that used to connect the towns and mines. The steam train travels at 10 MPH so it takes an hour to go the 10 miles between the towns, and the round trip is 2 hours.  The scenery along the line is nice, but you see several personal homes along the route. The inside of the train cars were carefully restored and well cared for. The two cars we were in (we changed cars at Keystone) had stained glass windows along the top, windows that opened, and padded seat with backs that moved so you can change which direction you are facing.  Overall, the experience was okay and was nice to do once. I would not do it a second time. After the train ride we went to the Prairie Berry Winery.  We ate lunch at the winery then tasted some of their wines.  The winery ...

Today was a busy day.  We woke up, had breakfast then headed out to Badlands National Park and Wall Drug.  The drive out to Badlands from our hotel took about an hour, and that is with part of the freeway being 80 MPH.  When we entered the park we were greeted by the bison herd and the prairie dogs. A little past the entrance, we saw two relaxing goats, but there was no place to stop to get their pictures. Badlands NP does have hiking, which is mostly backcountry, and lots of overlook locations to look at the rocks formations. Since we got to the park around 9:30 AM we had some morning light but not the perfect morning light,  that gives you the deep shadows and brings out the red in the rock formation. It took us about 3 hours to drive completely through the park with stops and a doing a few loop trail hikes. You could tell as the sun go higher the color seemed to disappear from the rocks.  The best time of day to get vibrant colors in the rocks and ...

Today we got up around 6:30 AM to get breakfast and then head out to Mount Rushmore  and Custer State Park. The drive out to Mount Rushmore took about 30 minutes, and was a nice drive.  We parked in the parking garage and walked up to the main walkway. The main walkway is wide and frames the President’s carved into Mount Rushmore.  The Monument is impressive, from both the size and the level of technology used to carve it. We attempted to walk the President’s Trail, a 1-mile loop trail at the base of Mount Rushmore,  but about half way around it was closed so we had to turn around and go back. After, we were done visiting Mount Rushmore we took the scenic byway to Custer State Park. The scenic byway was the longer route but worth it.  It had a lot of twists and turns but it was nice drive. While the Impreza did a nice job going through the curves, I still wish I would have had a little sports car to cruise on the road and really hug the curves. ...

Mammoth Outside "Mammoth Site" Today I flew out to Rapid City, South Dakota  for my annual vacation. The flight out of Dayton was ok, and I made my connection in Minneapolis, where I met my mom. However, my luggage did not make the connection.  We arrived in Rapid City and went down to baggage claim our bags, however, mine did not show up on the carousal. The baggage claim lady said it was going to be on the next flight which was arriving in an hour.  Sadly she lied, it was on the next flight out of Minneapolis, but it was arriving in two hours not one. So I spoke with the Delta representative and they said they could have my luggage delivered to my hotel.  My luggage showed up 5:00PM. Even though I did not have my luggage, it did not prevent us from sightseeing.  We drove down to the “Mammoth Site” which is working archaeological dig. At the site they are excavating mammoth skeletons,  two types woolly mammoth and columbian mammoths, that fell ...