Barrell Boondoggle

On the way out of the black hills we passed through Deadwood, South Dakota. Really pretty old Western town...but badly abused by the tourist industry...its still worth a visit though and definitely beats Vegas...although the ladies are not real (see vlog)...we said goodbye to SOuth Dakota and its creepy road signs that show you where people have died in an auto accident...its one thing for family members to put up flowers and crosses like they do in Michigan...but for the state to erect official road signs...creepy...but effective...

Wyoming is amazing...driving along flat land all around...and what look like (to someone who has lived in Switzerland) avalanche protction barriers...but in Switzerland these are never placed on flat ground...hmmm...they seem to be located on the West side of the roads...oh!! Winter must really SUCK here if they need to put up snow barriers along the roads...

I learnt something about dandelions in Wyoming (this one is for Jeff Terrell)...they can look great when an entire open field is covered in them and some other white and purple wild flowers...don't look so good in my lawn though...

Devil's tower is difficult to do justice to...you have to go there and see it for yourself. I tried in the vlog...spent the night camped below Devil's Tower...tomorrow Big Horn

Continue reading "Deadwood and Devil's Tower" »

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Everyone has heard of Mount Rushmore...and it is quite impressive with its 60 foot high faces and 18 foot long noses - quite an accomplishment. What most people have never heard of is the largest sculpture on earth...and it is just around the corner from Mount Rushmore...its called Crazy Horse mountain.

I suppose its pretty typical because this one is a Native American...Crazy Horse...and is a private project funded entirely by the sculptor and charitable donations that they receive...

The black hills are spectacular in a subdued kind of way...large chunks of granite that stick straight up out of thick pine trees. This is tourist central...lots of touristy things to see and do...the gold rush town of Deadwood, the 1880 steam engine train, Jewel cave (the second longest in the world) etc., etc...

Tomorrow its on to Wyoming..watch the vlog in the extended entry.

Continue reading "The Black Hills and Crazy Horse" »

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Finally we made it...into the meat of South Dakota...we can take it easy today...no pressure to put the miles behind us. At first we thought we would stay the night in the badlands national park...but around noon...with not a tree in sight, the thought of the cool shady slopes of the black hills was much more enticing.

And so on to Mount Rushmore and the black hills after a short stop at the "World famous" "Wall Drug"...so famous that they advertise in Kenya and China...for the video (vlog) see the extended entry...

We arrived at our campground near Mount Rushmore and...hoorah!!...WiFi Internet...no cell reception though...oh the bane of the Internet...we could download our email and see that our house sitter is bailing on us after 2 days due to an alleged allergic reaction to our cat...just what we needed...NOT!

next stop - unknown...

Continue reading "The Badlands and Mount Rushmore" »

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Day 1: 600 miles later we arrive in Des Moines Iowa. We have travelled through Michigan from East to West. The Northwest corner of Indiana, Illinois from East to West and half of Iowa. We passed the birthplace of Ronald Reagan in Illinois and the birthplace of John Wayne in Iowa.

Day 2: after another 300 miles we reach the town of Mitchell, South Dakota. The first mildly interesting stop so far. We visited a prehistoric native american village and the corn palace (see the vlog in the extended entry)...we had a rather typical day for early spring in the Great Plains - Tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings - luckily we were a couple of miles south of the really bad weather. On the vlog you will hear what happens on your average midwest US radio station during a tornado-spawning storm...the radio station is supposed to be playing "cool music"...

Next stop the badlands and mount Rushmore...

Continue reading "Mitchell to the Missouri" »

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