2 Days on the Road and we are in Sturgis

Well this was quite a day. Up early and grabbed the "complimentary" (like you don't pay for it) breakfast and drove west on I90 at 8:15. South Dakota is really very beautiful. We had very light sprinkles early then bright blue sky with an occasional puff of cloud. Humidity is lower and feels pretty nice for July. The wheat fields go on forever and smell of the clover being harvested is sweet. Here they even bale next to the highway! There are tons of bee hives and most of the local honey says it is from sweet clover.
Although we were headed over to Idaho and Montana we think we may have found the perfect place - in Kadoka - this just caught our eye!













From here we headed to the Badlands National Park. WOW! The pictures cannot even start to capture these sights. You pay $15.00 to drive through which is good for a week. The drive on loop 240 takes about an hour and that was with getting out for photo ops. It was designated a national park in 1978 and has about 1 million visitors a year. It is the largest expanse of protected prairie ecosystem in the park system and considered one of the world's richest mammal fossil beds. 50% is managed by the Oglala Lakota Nation the 2nd largest American Indian Reservation in the US. It is one of the most successful reintroduction sites for the black footed ferret - one of the world's rarest mammals. The park also has swift fox, bighorn sheep and bison and PRAIRIE DOGS!
The Lakota knew this area as mako sica - bad lands. It reminded me of ancient dinosaurs buried in mud.
About 75 million years ago this area was warm (tropical) and a shallow sea covered the region we call the great plains. From the gulf of Mexico to Canada and from western Iowa to western Wyoming. The bottom of that sea appears now as a grayish-black sedimentary rock called Pierre shale. Rich in fossils as creatures sank to the bottom of the sea when they died and over time became fossils. Continental plates shifted and shoved leading to the active period of mountain building. The land under the sea rose forcing the water to retreat and drain away. The climate was humid and now the land was exposed to sunshine and abundant rain - a dark and dense forest developed. It flourished for millions of years. Then the climate cooled and dried. Forest gave way to savanna then to the grassland similar to what it is today. The vivid read bands in the buttes are fossilized soil.
There is a wonderful form of mountain sage growing wild and narrow leaf yucca and a purple flower we have not identified yet but to me the sunflower/black eyed susan standing alone in such a stark background seemed to make this a peaceful place.
There were swallows swooping everywhere with almost no regard to people in their way.








Leaving the loop we arrived in Wall, SD. Home of WALL DRUG. It opened in 1931 and after 5 years and little business they started putting up signs on the highway telling people to come in for free Ice water. The "Wall" is a rugged strip a half mile to three miles wide, a succession of tinted spires and ridges with twisting gullies - the badlands and of course is where Wall got it's name. Wall Drug and Cafe has everything a tourist could desire including prescriptions. Mining, prairie food, saloon, dinosaurs, picnic area, ice house, horse shed, teepee, dining room, western sculpture, emporium, donut factory, souvenirs, camera store, rocks, books, chapel, clothing, camping etc, etc, etc. It was PACKED - we were getting hungry so we headed a block over to the Red Rock Restaurant whose specialty was broasted chicken. It was cute, pine logs and after spending a small fortune (LOL) on gasoline we were off again.
Next stop Mt. Rushmore. By the way, there is a great wood bridge you go under and a cool tunnel to get there. It is $10.00 to park but your pass is good til the end of the year. I was here about 38 years ago. It has changed! It had a dirt trail but now it is truly a monument on the ground as well as on the side of the mountain! It was packed. Parking garage, pillars with every state flag, stone LARGE walkway, gift shop, book store, Lincoln/ Borglum (the sculpture) museum, and a beautiful amphitheater built into the facing mountain open air which you just know would make any music sound sweet. And then you look up and of course to me - the best president we ever had is up there. Teddy just looks great!
Each face is 60 feet tall. Each eye is 11 feet wide. All the noses are 20 feet long except Washington at 21'. Washington's mouth is 18 feet wide. It was started in 1927 and finished in 1941. There were 500 workers and it cost $989,992.32. They used dynamite, jackhammers, to chip away at the Harney peak granite rock. The workers had to climb 700 stairs to the top of the mountain to start work each day. Winchmen used 3/8" steel cables to lower workers over the front of the 500 foot cliff in a bosun chair. 90% was carved using dynamite. Then the drillers and carvers drilled holes into the granite close together called honeycombing to weaken the granite so it could be removed easily. Then it was smoothed with a bumper tool and the it would even up the granite creating a surface as smooth as a sidewalk. Carving stopped in 1941 with the death of Borglum and the beginning of the US in WWII. (photos to follow - its late)
Next we headed to Deadwood. Most of you know how much I loved the show about this - well like Mt Rushmore it has grown up. It is mostly casinos. But this town has really embraced their heritage and the restoration of the buildings is excellent. Packed again - we walked around and took pictures but to see it you need more time. So we will be back!
So we headed north to Sturgis. Ah but that will be included in tomorrow's entry. You will love it!