From the UP to South Dakota

**WARNING** Long post ahead with lots of photos and one video! =)

May 11- Off we went to St. Paul, MN to meet Nancy Wall, who will be with us as part of the Peace Corps Ecuador group! Since her daughter was in town, we wanted to give her time to spend with her. So we hit up the Trader Joe's, stopped by some outlets (and of course, didn't buy anything), and just waffled around. When we got to Nancy's, we chatted away. It was nice to chat with her about our shared fears, anxieties, and excitements. She is currently a social worker and is one of the older volunteers (I think she is 55). We had a great time chatting with her, and she was such a wonderful host. For some reason, I didn't get a picture of us together, but I'm sure I'll have one of her when we are in Ecuador. She lives very close to downtown, so we walked to this Thai restaurant that she recommended, then chatted some more about everything from language proficiency and packing options, to totally non-Peace Corps related chit chat.

My only picture from Minnesota

May 12- We got up the next morning, had breakfast with Nancy, and then headed off to South Dakota. It was a very long day of driving, but I got to see some amazing prairies. I didn't realize that South Dakota was home to Laura Ingalls Wilder and inspired her Little House on the Prairie book. It reminds me of when my dad used to make ribs. If you are curious, just ask me...I get longwinded with my stories (surprise surprise!). We got into the Badlands around 7pm finally. Originally, we had planned to camp, but it was outrageously windy, so we decided to drive around and see the sunset before heading back to a hotel we found to stay at for the night. We ended up staying in this town called Wall...home to the famous Wall Drug (more info below!).

Sunset light reflecting off the badlands

Prairie grass and badland formations

I resorted to taking pictures from the car because it was so windy

May 13- First stop of the morning was Wall Drug for some 5 cents coffee and donuts! We first heard about Wall Drug from Charlie and Mary when we visited them in Knoxville. They had shown us their scrapbook and told us that we must stop at Wall Drug. While driving across South Dakota, I saw dozens of Wall Drug signs advertising free water and nickel coffee. We perused around a bit, I bought some postcards, we filled up on free ice water, and had a great time before driving through the Badlands.

Our drive through the Badlands was pretty quick. We stopped by the visitor center, went into several of the lookout points, and tried to take a hike but it was way too windy. We stopped by the campground to see what it would have been like. There was not a single camper except for a few RVs because of the wind. I have a short video but I couldn't even bear to be outside for that long.

Our Matrix...looking good with the Badlands as a backdrop! We're going to miss this car!

After the Badlands, we passed through Mt. Rushmore National Monument. Unfortunately, they just built this monstrous parking garage, so they charge $10 to park. We weren't able to actually walk into the monument and see the museum, but we got some good shots from the various viewpoints.

The profile view of George Washington

From there, we drove by Crazy Horse...it wasn't much to look at because it is so massive and so the progress that is made doesn't seem like a huge difference. I posted a picture of what it is eventually going to look like...but it has already been over 50 years in the making.


Next stop was Custer State Park! We drove the wildlife loop and didn't see a whole lot until we suddenly reached a buffalo jam. The folks at the visitor center said we might not see many animals because of the wind (foiled again!). Here is a little video for your enjoyment. We happened to come at a good time- when the buffalo (or bison, as some would call it) had 3-week old calves. You can see them because their coats are a reddish brown...and they look like little cows.

We saw lots of varieties of deer grazing in the prairies

Just a reminder of whose territory it is

One of my favorite photos that I took...a lone tree in the prairie

Mother feeding her calf

Another calf following his mom

Buffalo traffic jam!

We decided to stay the night in Keystone, SD since it is a larger town and still provided us access to Custer State Park, but from another scenic route. We ate dinner at this restaurant called The Ruby House, where Adam and I tried out buffalo burger. Adam actually liked it better than the hamburger...I am not sure I necessarily did though. Afterwards, we went in search of buffalo earrings and so we stopped in this gift shop. We ended up chatting with the guy that worked there for almost 45 minutes about coin and bill collecting. Look out for the bills with the star next to the number...they might be worth a bit more than you think! Who knew!

The inside of the restaurant with the buffalo hide on the wall

May 14- It was another day at Custer State Park. We first stopped and had a nice cheapy breakfast of eggs and toast at another local joint before driving along the scenic route where we got to pass through tunnels that looked straight into Mt. Rushmore. We chatted with the folks at the Visitor Center again (they were an older couple, volunteering for a few months and camping in their RV. They're from South Dakota but have gone all over the place) and then drove the wildlife loop once more. This time, we saw wild burros and tons of prairie dogs, as well as a good number of bison and their babies. We even made time for a hike before heading off to Wyoming.

Also, a few interesting things that we learned while at Custer State Park:

1) There are over 1500 bison roaming the park. Every year they have a round-up (actual wranglers ride their horses and round up the bison) so that they can count them up and also brand the new calves to signify that they are part of the Custer State Park. Most are released but some are kept for their November Auction, where people can actually purchase bison. The reason is to manage the size of the population in the park.

2) Prairie dogs have a LOUD bark...but it sounds more like a frightened bleet to me!

3) I really liked South Dakota. And I could've taken hundreds more photos of buffalo. And prairie dogs. And burros. And deer.

Visit Peggy's Place for $2.99 breakfast!

Mt. Rushmore from one of the many tunnels


Viewpoint of Mt. Rushmore from Custer State Park

Greeted by some curious burros that just stood and stared


Make me a home...where the buffalo roam...

Curious buffalo calf having a staring contest with us

Male bison stopping for a drink

This prairie dog was barking/yipping non-stop...I think because I got too close to their holes and he was warning the hundred others that a strange woman with a camera was coming



Finally, proof that Adam and I were actually there...and not just posting someone else's photos!

Our stay in Wyoming was brief. It consisted of driving through, stopping to eat, and sleeping at an Econolodge before driving to Utah. Sorry Wyoming...next time we'll take more time! But the drive was great...lots of wide open spaces