Sometimes you just need to go on an impromptu trip with a friend… 850 miles away! To do some sightseeing, hiking and driving through National and State Parks. So, Friday evening we set off and drove all the way to Mt. Rushmore, where we took a much deserved nap in the car before touring this awesome monument. Some fun little facts — Mt. Rushmore was supposed to be entire upper bodies of the presidents and not just their heads, 90% of the mountain was carved with dynamite, more than 450,000 tons of rock were removed and Mt. Rushmore once had an amateur baseball team! While at Mt. Rushmore, we obviously took the opportunity to take some cool pictures. Check them out!
After Mt. Rushmore we moseyed on over to the Crazy Horse Memorial. It started to snow at this point, but it cleared enough before we left so I was able to get a good picture of the progress. If you didn’t know, Crazy Horse is the world’s largest in progress mountain carving and all of the carving depends on donations. So, if you’re ever in South Dakota, make sure to stop here! It will help them eventually finish the mountain, which if you’ve ever seen the miniature it is breathtaking. At the Crazy Horse Memorial there is a Native Museum that has so many beautiful hand crafted pieces that are dripping with history. There is also an AWESOME teepee that you can check out in this museum as well.
After visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial we drove a few miles down the road to my favorite part of the whole trip — Custer State Park. This park is huge, at 114 square miles. It’s one of the largest state parks in the Lower 48! It’s also located in the Black Hills, which are GORGEOUS when it snows, which it was doing, heavily. The coolest part of the park was seeing the buffalo and an antelope. There is an awesome loop called the “Wildlife Loop”, which is a scenic 18 mile drive where you get to see any animal that decides to come and say hello! We did have some donkeys come say hello to us, and the babies were adorable. We did do a little hiking in the state park, but it was freezing and we weren’t dressed for the occasion. Check out the pictures from Custer State Park below!
Can you believe we still had the energy to keep going? After Custer State Park we drove down to the Wind Cave National Park. Which is the seventh largest cave in the world, third largest in the US and is one of the largest mapped caves in the world — coming in at 143 miles! Unfortunately we were unable to get a tour of the cave, as it is closed down for Covid-19, but we did get to see the natural opening and let me tell you, its TINY. It’s crazy to imagine that someone stuck their head in a windy hole and decided to explore it. I’m glad they did though, because it was definitely amazing to witness wind coming out of a cave hole! Here is Paige pictured next to the opening.
After we did our exploring through the Wind Cave National Park we drove to a little town called Interior, SD where we stayed in an awesome Air BNB! It’s an 1880’s homesteading home. No running water or electricity — we like to rough it. We also made a cat friend while we were there who was very friendly and wanted to hang out with us all of the time. That evening we got snuggled up in our sleeping bags and took a much needed sleep, as we were getting up really early to watch the sunrise over the Badlands.
Sunday morning, we headed to the Badlands, which was about a three minute drive (awesome huh?). We got to see the sun come up over the awesome geological formations. Some things I learned while in the Badlands: it used to be a sea, and then a tropical forest, and then developed into the Badlands as we know it today; the Oglala Lakota people gave the Badlands their name first calling it maka sica meaning “land bad.”
While in the Badlands, we encountered some Buffalo and we got up close and personal. It made my adrenaline rush and gave me goosebumps when I made eye contact with one of them. These powerful beasts roam the Badlands all year! It really was an amazing site to see them in their natural habitat just doing their buffalo thing. I also had the opportunity to see a mountain goat with her kid. They were just hanging out along the side of the road. I love seeing wildlife in their natural habitats. Brings you back to a time before the land was tamed by humans. It’s an amazing feeling and one I hope to experience over and over again as I continue traveling.
After we travelled through the Badlands for a good four hours, we headed back to the Rapid City area were we explored the shops that were still open. We found a lot of beautiful items, some of which we purchased for ourselves. My favorite purchase was a Native American hand crafted wedding vase. These vases come with a story of how Native American tribes would make these wedding vases for the marrying couple and during their ceremony they would have to each drink out of one side — at the same time. Showing unification and purifying them as they drank together. I bought a mini version and the craftsmanship and detail is beautiful and breathtaking. I’m so glad I brought this piece home with me.
After we had our fill of shopping we headed back to Custer State Park and drove through the northern region. It was breathtaking to see all of the snow on the trees throughout the winding roads. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay there forever and just live! It was beautiful. The day was pretty spent at this point and we headed back to the Homestead and hung out with our cat friend before we hit the hay.
It was an amazing whirlwind trip, and I can’t wait for my next adventure.
Until next time,
Felicia
