South Dakota

In the past two days we've made it all the way through Minnesota and South Dakota and we're staying in Casper, Wyoming. tonight.

Sunday was a lot of driving and not much sightseeing, although we did make it to the World's Only Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD- wohoo! We made it to our campsite just outside of the Badlands National Park around 6pm thanks to crossing into mountain time. It was a bit of a challenge getting our camp set up since it was so dang windy; our tent kept trying to fly away! Eventually we got it up and grilled up some hot dogs and brats for dinner. Then we got to bed right before the rain hit. I didn't sleep for several hours because the wind was so strong and I was afraid the tent would collapse on top of us. Eventually I got some sleep and we woke up at 7 and quickly packed up since rain looked imminent again. We got everything packed up just as it was starting to sprinkle.

Today was a big sightseeing day. We started by going through the Badlands National Park; I've never seen terrain quite like that before! We stopped at all of the viewpoints and marveled at unique beauty of the colorful castle-esque rock formations. We also got to see some prairie dogs scurrying around! I got out to take a picture and then they all made these high-pitched warning calls.

Our next stop was at Wall Drug in the town of Wall. It was a very unique place; touristy with all sorts of cheesy games and shops. We each got one of their famous donuts (and some free ice water!) and those were really good. We wandered around there and re-created a photo of Matt modeling with one of the statue ladies from when he was a kid. Then we found our way out of there (it's huge!).

Then we finally got some Taco Bell for the first time since being back in the states. We were pretty excited about that! Next we cruised through Keystone which was a cute touristy town on our way to Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore was so cool to see! I thought that was really neat. It was a very busy place today; I'm sure the holiday weekend contributed to that.

Shortly after that we stopped at Crazy Horse Memorial which was pretty cool. Construction began in 1948 and is still a work-in-progress but when it's done it'll be the tallest monument in the world! It's dedicated to all Native American tribes. Crazy Horse was a Native American leader who fought for the continuation of his people's way of life and to protect their land. 

Then we drove through Custer Park on the Wildlife Loop Road which was really fun and pretty. We saw some (what we think were) mule deer, some wild donkeys, and lots of wild buffalo! The buffalo are SO big! They were just grazing right along the road and didn't seem to mind the vehicles at all.

Then we continued our journey west about 3.5 hours to Casper, WY. We're staying tonight at a friend's house who were kind enough to let us stay here even though they are not home for the holiday weekend. Thanks Tim and Janie!! So sorry we missed you guys!

Tomorrow we head to Yellowstone! Have a fun and safe 4th of July, everyone!