Black Hills 2006

Black Hills 2006

This morning we road an 1880 steam locomotive from Hill City to Keystone. Keystone is a small town at the base of Mt. Rushmore. It is pretty much of a tourist trap with a lot of motels, restaurants and gift stores. The train ride was pretty neat. We traveled through about 20 miles of forest and mountains. Some of the grades were fairly steep. The cars on the railroad were all antiques and came from all over the US. We all enjoyed the trip.

Tuesday: A Visit to Mt. Rushmore

This morning we visited Mt. Rushmore. In all the years we have been coming to the Black Hills to snowmobile we have never seen Mt. Rushmore before this morning. It's quite a sight to see it as you come around the side of the mountain. The new buildings that were recently constructed compliment the carvings a great deal. We visited Borglums studio and saw a number of photos and a film of the project in different phases. The girls talked us into hiking up to the base of the mountain, all 250 steps.

In the afternoon we drove through Custer State Park. Over the 35 miles we traversed we experienced winding roads, 5 narrow tunnels, rock spires shooting into the sky and 3 herds of buffalo. The last herd we saw were on both sides of the road and numbered over 500. We parked within feet of several grazing by the road. With the top down on the jeep it was quite thrilling.

Monday In the Badlands

We made it to the Badlands and boy are they magnificent! We spent the better part of the day driving the 30 mile road through the center and hiking along many of the trails and ridges. There is a great film in the visitors center that explains alot about the area. We finished up around 2pm and headed to Wall Drug for lunch. This place was gigantic. They sell everything you can imagine except furniture.

Sunday June 25th Departure to Black Hills

We are on the road again. This time our two grandchildren, Paige and Emily have joined us. We departed Des Moines around 8am. After lunch in Sioux City, Iowa we drove to Mitchell, S.D. to see the world famous CORN PALACE. We have passed by this area numerous times and people always ask us if we saw the Corn Palace. Now we have. For those who are unaware, it started as an exhibition hall in the 1800's to highlight the crop of the area. It has been rebuilt several times, the last time was 1927. It's not actually built from corn, but uses a dozen or so varieties to form giant murals on the outside and inside walls. Today the facility is used for exhibitions, basketball and civic performances. We spent the night at a campground in Murdo S.D. Monday we head for the Badlands and Wall Drug