For this challenge Ann-Christine has asked us to focus on Work in Progress.
Crazy Horse Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota has been a Work in Progress since the Memorial was dedicated on the day of the first blast, June 3, 1948. The monument honoring Lakota Chief Crazy Horse was the dream of Oglala Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear and is the world’s largest mountain carving in progress. To learn more about the history of this amazing project please visit Crazy Horse Memorial.
Our mission is to protect and preserve the culture, tradition and living heritage of the North American Indians
Mission of Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation
We first visited the monument in the summer of 2006. We toured the museum, watched an interesting video about the the memorial, and bought some native made items in the gift shop.
Crazy Horse Monument in the summer of 2006Scale Model of the Crazy Horse MonumentHorse Head of the Scale Model with the Monument in the background, 2006
We returned to the Black Hills of South Dakota in the spring of 2011. We chose not to tour the museum again but I captured this image from the highway. It doesn’t look much different than it did in 2006 but some progress was made during those five years.
Ketchikan, Alaska is famous for it totem poles hand carved by native carvers. At the Herring Bay Lumber Company we learned from a native master carver how the totems were made and how each totem tells a story. After learning about the totems and viewing his work in progress we wandered through the totem park to see some finished totems.
Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!
I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state in my series is
South Dakota
South Dakota became the 40th state on November 2, 1889. The Capital is Pierre.
Our travels have taken us through South Dakota a surprising number of times. The Corn Palace in Mitchell and Wall Drug Store in Wall are two fun places to take a travel break along Interstate 90.
The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota
Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota
Like so many other people, we made the Black Hills our primary travel destination in South Dakota. There is so much to see there we couldn’t do everything we wanted on our first trip so we returned five years later. In addition to the spectacular scenery, the highlights of our visits were Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Custer State Park, the wildlife, Deadwood, Wind Cave National Park and Badlands National Park.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
Crazy Horse Monument in 2006
Crazy Horse Monument in the summer of 2011
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Five years after our first trip to the Black Hills, we camped at Game Lodge Campground in Custer State Park. We loved being close to so much wildlife.
Custer State Park is home to herds of Bison, also known as American Buffalo. Many can be seen from the scenic Wildlife Loop Road. Some also like to hang out in other parts of the park and we often saw them near the Game Lodge Campground. There were many calves when we were there in early June. As we drove through the park and on the drive through Wind Cave National Park we saw bison, pronghorn antelope, prairie dogs wild burros, and even white tail deer. This collage of the bison and other wildlife we saw in and around Custer State Park shows just a small sample of the wildlife that is there.
Bison on Wildlife Loop Drive
Huge bison herd on Wildlife Loop Drive
Bison in Custer State Park
Mama and Calf
Young bison
Take my picture!
Pronghorn Antelope, Custer State Park, SD
This buffalo was hanging out by the lodge
Friendly chipmunk at one of the overlooks on the Needles Highway
Pronghorn Antelope
Wild burro’s on the Wildlife Look Drive are not shy
Just driving through the Black Hills is an adventure and there are several scenic drives to enjoy. Iron Mountain Road and the Needles Highway are both narrow, steep, curvy roads with single lane tunnels. There were spectacular views from the Mount Coolidge Overlook at the end of another narrow road. Another day the views were spectacular as we drove through Spearfish Canyon but I forgot my camera that day!
Along the Needles Highway in Custer Sate Park
Eye of the Needle on the Needles Highway
Needle Tunnel
Mount Rushmore from one of the tunnels on Iron Mountain Road
View of Crazy Horse Monument from the top of the Coolidge Overlook in Custer State Park
Deadwood is famous for being the town where Wild Bill Hickok was shot by Jack McCoy in the Number 10 Saloon in 1876. In the new Number 10 Saloon visitors can see a reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill and there are reenactments in the street with gunslingers. We took the drive to his grave in the nearby Mount Moriah Cemetery.
Wild Bill Hickock was killed in Deadwood
Gunslingers in the streets of Deadwood
Reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill Hickock (with the long hair and mustache playing cards)
At her request, Calamity Jane was buried next to Wild Bill Hickok at the Mt. Moria Cemetery in Deadwood
View of the town of Deadwood from the Mt. Moriah Cemetery
We discovered a couple of delightful campgrounds outside of the Black Hills during our South Dakota journeys. The owners are hard working and helpful at the Belvidere East KOA. Blondie enjoyed the dog park and we loved the Indian Tacos at their restaurant. The sunset was great, too.
Sunset at Belvidere East Campground
Mina Lake State Recreation area near Aberdeen was a perfect place to chill after our time in the Black Hills. The park was practically empty and the camp hosts were friendly and helpful. They even brought us some pheasant appetizers one evening.
We love camping in state parks. Most state parks we have found have big sites, beautiful surroundings, and wildlife.
We didn’t discover state park camping until the only place we could find to stay in Arkansas on our way home on our first RV trip was Lake Dardanelle State Park in Russellville, Arkansas. Our site was big, we weren’t lined up like sardines next to our neighbors, and we had a nice lake near our site. From that night on, we have looked for state parks whenever we travel.
Here are just a few state parks we love.
Custer State Park, Custer, South Dakota – the Black Hills, scenic drives and wildlife.
Mama bison with baby on Custer State Park Wildlife Loop Road in June, 2011
Custer State Park Game Lodge Campground Site 12
Mount Rushmore as seen from Iron Mountain Road in Custer State Park
Along the Needle Highway in Custer State Park
Needle’s Eye on Needles Highway in Custer State Park
Cape Disappointment State Park, Ilwaco, Washington – 2 lighthouses, a path to the beach behind our full hook up campsite, a dog friendly beach on the Pacific Ocean, and a Lewis and Clark museum. What’s not to love?
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, WA
North Head Lighthouse seen from beach at Cape Disappointment State Park, Washington
Blondie enjoyed the beach at Cape Disappointment
A path to the beach was behind our site at Cape Disappointment State Park
Henry enjoying a beautiful sunset at Cape Disappointment
St. Joseph Peninsula, Port St. Joe, Florida in Florida’s Forgotten Coast – beautiful uncrowded white sandy beaches, nature trails, and sunsets.
Enjoying a January day at St. Joseph Peninsula
We could hear the waves from our campsite
We had the beach almost to ourselve
Deer at St. Joseph Peninsula State Park
We watched the sunset every night
Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, Georgia – Huge sites in the middle of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
Boat ride through the Okefenokee Swamp
Big Pull through site at Stephen C. Foster State Park, Georgia
Alligator in the Okefenokee Swamp
Alligator in the Okefenokee Swamp
Other state parks that stand out are Itasca State Park in Minnesota, Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia, Beverly Beach and Humbug Mountain State Parks in Oregon, Kentucky Horse Park in Kentucky, and Cattail Cove State Park in Arizona. We’ve also camped in many Florida and Georgia state parks and love them all.
If you are an RV’er or tent camper and never stayed in a state park, give one a try on your next trip. And if you don’t camp, many state parks have cabins for rent and a few even have lodges.
Days 10 and 11: Saturday, May 25, 2013 and Sunday, May 26, 2013. Welcome, Minnesota to Midland, South Dakota. KOA Belvidere East Campground, Midland, South Dakota. Site 26. 331 miles traveled. Crossed into Mountain Time.
Road weary after traveling through 10 states in 10 days, we decided to take a break from driving and spent two nights in Midland, SD.
We stopped at a rest area on I-90 near Chamberlain, SD for a scenic view of the Missouri River. There is also a museum at the rest area celebrating the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
We stopped for a few groceries at the Walmart in Mitchell, South Dakota. Mitchell is the location of The Corn Palace, a popular tourist destination for travelers in South Dakota. We have visited the Corn Palace before, so we decided to pass it by on this trip.
Bridge over the Missouri River at overlook on I-90 in South Dakota
Belvidere East KOA Site 26 at Sunset
At the dog park in South Dakota
View out the back window KOA Belvidere East, South Dakota
Sunset in South Dakota
Sunset at Belvidere East Campground
We have stayed at this RV park twice before on our western travels. It’s a very nice park with very nice, hard working owners. The wife is the cook in their small restaurant and we enjoyed our Indian tacos. Yum!
Wandering Dawgs 