South Dakota

Leaving Wyoming, and traveling into South Dakota is where the Black Hills begin. We were going to be staying in another KOA, but this time we were staying in this cute little cabin while we toured the Black Hills area of South Dakota.

Once we had unloaded everything from the car we headed over to Mount Rushmore. (see post here)

On our way out of the KOA we discovered that they were having a rodeo on site that night. When we were in Cody, Wyoming they had rodeos every night. Those are a little different than traditional rodeos that are less frequent, so we weren’t sure what kind of rodeo this would be. It turns out that they had rodeos once a month at the KOA, and we got free entrance since we were staying there. So, once we got back from Mount Rushmore and got some food in our bellies, we headed over to the rodeo.

This was perfect! Exactly the kind of rodeo that we wanted to see. Plus, I got to talking to two girls that were sitting next to us. This is America & Kelsey. They live in Rapid City, South Dakota and are best friends/sisters/hockey teammates. One of their dads was in the rodeo and they had multiple friends competing as well.

The following morning we went to Crazy Horse.

Fun Facts about Crazy Horse:

• Construction started June 1948
• Dimensions of carving- 641 ft long & 563 ft high
• Construction is funded by admissions and contributions only, there is no federal or state funding
• Korczak Ziolkowski is the original artist, continued by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation
  • 4 of his 10 children (& 23 grandchildren) are still working with the project
• Built to “protect & preserve the culture, tradition & living heritage of North American Indians” across America

From there we went to Wind Cave National Park on our pre-scheduled tour (see post here)

The following day we did Jewel Cave National Monument  (see that post here) and went back to the KOA to eat dinner. After which, we took a KOA bus to Mount Rushmore for the night time Lighting Ceremony.

From there we entered Nebraska (see that post here) via a dirt road.

From there, we drove back up into South Dakota, where we got to see the majestic Corn Palace.

Corn Palace Fun Facts:

• Murals & designs made entirely of corn & other grains with a new design (& theme) every year
• Started in 1892
  • present building was built in 1921
• The building itself is used as a sports arena, music venue & conventional center

This was one of my random stops that I found along my route using Atlas Obscura, and I’m definitely not disappointed with it! Inside the building they also have a TON of information on corn, the history of the palace and some fun agricultural facts. Here is my wonderful dad playing along with my shenanigans and seeing how many bushels of corn he can lift.

On our way towards Badlands National Park (see that post here) we met Dick & Hilda Weiss (from New Hampshire) at a rest stop who had this Scamp. My dad has been looking at possibly getting a small trailer that he and my mom can use when they retire. They were nice enough to show us inside theirs and to give us all sorts of information on the brand.

On our way out of Badlands National Park (see post here) we stopped by Wall, South Dakota. Starting in Wyoming we noticed signs for Wall Drug and had no idea what it meant. Of course, we never actually checked to see what it was… but we knew they had “Free Ice Water” and “5¢ Coffee”. I assumed it was a chain drugstore in this part of the country. It was America & Kelsey who explained a little of what it is and told us it was a must stop. We looked at where it was specifically in South Dakota, and it made the most sense for us to go there from Badlands on our way to Rapid City.

Wall Drug opened in 1931. The first 5 years Ted & Dorothy Hustead were in business weren’t the best, until Dorothy had the idea of putting signs up on Route 16A to attract drivers to stop in. Ted and a high school kid made the signs on 12″ x 36″ boards and put them along the road so they could read them as they approached Wall. By the time he was back to the store, there was a line of people waiting for their ice water. Since then, they haven’t had a problem with attracting customers and staying in business.

On top of learning the long history of Wall Drug, I got to ride my very first Jackelope, hiking boots and all!!! 🙂

You may have noticed that my dad was with me for a decent amount of time through all of Wyoming, Nebraska and most of South Dakota. The reason he changed his trip from just Yellowstone NP & Grand Tetons NP was because of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Sturgis is a small city (population less than 7,000) in South Dakota about an hour north of Rapid City. They host a motorcycle rally in August every year.

From a father’s perspective, most would not say “Yes, daughter, please go to an event with 500,000+ bikers… alone.” So instead he said he decided to extend his trip and stay with me up to the day I was leaving South Dakota.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally History:

• Started by a group of Indian Motorcycle riders in 1938
  • Originally 1 race & 9 participants
• 1942 no rally due to gas rations in WWII
• 1964 increased to a 3 day event with Main St closed for motorcycle parking
• 1965 increased to 5 day event
• 1975 increased to 7 day event
• 2000 attendance at over 600,000 people
• 2015 (75th annual) with 750,000+ participants over 10 day period
  • generating $800 million in revenue
• This year there was approximately 480,000 attendants

From there, once again I had to say Good-Bye to my dad and headed into North Dakota.

 

***AFTERWORD***

I have been super behind on posting my blog updates. I entered South Dakota on July 30th and left on August 6th; their summer weather was warm but not unbearable. South Dakota was more than I ever could have imagined, I do believe I saw most, if not all, I wanted to see in there, but I do think I will be back again sometime!!