Gotta hand it to Holiday Inn Express -- fluffy beds kick ass. Although we have REALLY enjoyed our last two historic hotels, they were kind of loud and creaky. We didn't notice at the time because there was so much other great stuff going on, but being in a regular hotel last night was unexpectedly great. We both slept like a rock.
We did a lot of driving today, and are spending the night (in another Holiday Inn Express!) in Sioux Falls tonight in preparation for sightseeing tomorrow. We were going to stay in Mitchell and see the Pre-historic Indian Village. Unfortunately the whole place was jammed with drunken pheasant hunters so we moved on down the road. We'll put Mitchell on the list for next time, along with more in-depth exploration of the Lewis & Clark trail. We did swing by and grab a picture of the infamous Corn Palace.
We started the morning with a visit to the Rapid City Dinosaur Park, which is an old Public Works project from the Depression. It was kind of charming in its decrepitude.
We spent the rest of the day driving through southern South Dakota, largely through the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations. We stopped to pay our respects at the Wounded Knee Massacre Memorial, which is as sad as you would expect. It's hard to believe that some members of the cavalry earned Medals of Honor for their service in that "battle."
Almost 120 years later, Pine Ridge is the poorest county in America, with 80% unemployment and an average yearly income of $3,700. Pine Ridge also has the country's highest infant mortality rate. Even if you make it to adulthood the news doesn't get any better -- male life expectancy is 48 and it's 52 for females.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Bear attack!
It was another lazy morning after a late night of giving our money to area casino owners. We did see the original site of Tom Nuttal's #10 saloon, where Wild Bill Hickock was shot (by the coward Jack McCall). We also saw the new #10, which is further south and across the street on Main St. -- that bar boasts the least friendly bartender in America and the chair Wild Bill was sitting in when he was shot. It's actually kind of a neat bar if you're ever in town.
Deadwood is a neat town and fun for a night, but it is pretty cheesey. They're cashing in on the popularity of Deadwood on HBO, which is good if it helps them restore the town. We had fun but we felt a little guilty about it.
After that we drove back east to Rapid City (the first step on our way home! boo hoo) and visited Bear Country USA. I was less excited about this one, since we've seen so many cool animals roaming free in the parks. But it was still exciting considering one of the bears bit a hole through the bumper of our rental car.
Here's the bear waking up from his nap, just as we drive up.
Here's the bear snuffling around at our bumper, while we ask ourselves "what the hell is that bear doing" and pull the car forward.
The bear followed the car forward and next thing we heard was a big kachunk and the car shook. We took off for real then, and here's what we found when we got to the parking lot.
Deadwood is a neat town and fun for a night, but it is pretty cheesey. They're cashing in on the popularity of Deadwood on HBO, which is good if it helps them restore the town. We had fun but we felt a little guilty about it.
After that we drove back east to Rapid City (the first step on our way home! boo hoo) and visited Bear Country USA. I was less excited about this one, since we've seen so many cool animals roaming free in the parks. But it was still exciting considering one of the bears bit a hole through the bumper of our rental car.
Here's the bear waking up from his nap, just as we drive up.
Here's the bear snuffling around at our bumper, while we ask ourselves "what the hell is that bear doing" and pull the car forward.
The bear followed the car forward and next thing we heard was a big kachunk and the car shook. We took off for real then, and here's what we found when we got to the parking lot.
Ok now where was I?
No post yesterday because our hotel, the historic Franklin Hotel, didn't have high speed internet access (or low speed, for that matter). Now there's a beer barrier between me and yesterday's events, but I'll do my best.
We slept in and lazed around pretty late yesterday because our bed at the Red Rock River Resort was sooooo comfy (featherbed, down comforter). We did another small drive through Custer State Park and saw some bison really super close -- close enough for Matt to be nervous. :)
First on our agenda was the Mammoth Site, a working paleantological dig that you can tour. They stumbled across these fossils when they were getting ready to build a housing complex in the mid-70s and they've been excavating it ever since. They do Elderhostel tours, where retirees can sign up to spend 8 weeks excavating. I think Matt was a little iffy on how interesting it would be, but we both ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
After that we went to Jewel Cave, which they think will be the longest cave in the world once it's completely explored. So far they've discovered 140 miles, which makes it the second longest. In front of the visitor center they had a cement tube that was 8.5 high by 24 inches wide. If you can prove you can fit in there, they'll let you go on the spelunking tour. Otherwise you're with the rest of us old folks on the Scenic Tour.
After 90 minutes of cave viewing and stair climbing, we took our buns of steel up the 85 scenic highway, which goes a teensy way into Wyoming. Our final destination was Deadwood. We toured Mt. Moriah Cemetery and saw the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock, and a bunch of other people that played a role in Deadwood's early history. It's a really pretty cemetery and full of deer at dusk.
After that I'm happy to say it was mostly drinking and gambling.
We slept in and lazed around pretty late yesterday because our bed at the Red Rock River Resort was sooooo comfy (featherbed, down comforter). We did another small drive through Custer State Park and saw some bison really super close -- close enough for Matt to be nervous. :)
First on our agenda was the Mammoth Site, a working paleantological dig that you can tour. They stumbled across these fossils when they were getting ready to build a housing complex in the mid-70s and they've been excavating it ever since. They do Elderhostel tours, where retirees can sign up to spend 8 weeks excavating. I think Matt was a little iffy on how interesting it would be, but we both ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
After that we went to Jewel Cave, which they think will be the longest cave in the world once it's completely explored. So far they've discovered 140 miles, which makes it the second longest. In front of the visitor center they had a cement tube that was 8.5 high by 24 inches wide. If you can prove you can fit in there, they'll let you go on the spelunking tour. Otherwise you're with the rest of us old folks on the Scenic Tour.
After 90 minutes of cave viewing and stair climbing, we took our buns of steel up the 85 scenic highway, which goes a teensy way into Wyoming. Our final destination was Deadwood. We toured Mt. Moriah Cemetery and saw the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, Seth Bullock, and a bunch of other people that played a role in Deadwood's early history. It's a really pretty cemetery and full of deer at dusk.
After that I'm happy to say it was mostly drinking and gambling.
Busy day, no internet
We had another great day yesterday but our hotel didn't have internet service. We just had breakfast and I'm camped outside Hickock Hotel and Gaming, nabbing their wireless out of the air. I'm assuming they WANT me to have use of their free internet service based on the fact that they didn't enable any security. :)
At any rate, the pictures are on Picasa -- we did Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, another drive through Custer State Park, Jewel Cave, and then spent the rest of the day wandering around drinking free beer and losing at Blackjack. All in all, a pretty nice little Weds.
Today we're on to Rapid City, our first step on the road back east to MI.
At any rate, the pictures are on Picasa -- we did Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, another drive through Custer State Park, Jewel Cave, and then spent the rest of the day wandering around drinking free beer and losing at Blackjack. All in all, a pretty nice little Weds.
Today we're on to Rapid City, our first step on the road back east to MI.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Today rocked as well!
Shorter post today, I spent most of my time posting pictures. We're at the Red Rock River Resort in Hot Springs, SD tonight. It was a little more than the other hotels in the area, but it's a really cute hotel and our room rate included unlimited use of their spa! So we think we're pretty smart. They have a hot tub and sauna, plus a cool Korean hot sand room and a hot granite room. The last two seem to basically be radient heat floors with various stuff over the top. They were both great, definitely try those if you run across them.
It was a super busy day today, and lots of fun! We started at the Minuteman Missile park just outside Wall -- it's the newest National Park! We lucked out again in that it's the last day they'll be doing tours for some time, while they redo the electrical. This normally isn't my kind of thing, but it was really interesting and I learned a lot. In fact, I learned enough stuff that, had I known it beforehand I would've been way more interested to go in the first place! Who can ask for more than that?
We saw Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments today, and then headed into Custer State Park. We did a little hiking, checked out the local wildlife, etc. Another fun day with animal sightings -- two chipmunks actually came up and tugged our pant legs! It was cute but sad because we figure they've been fed by tourists.
We saw bison grazing in the park as well, but my pictures didn't turn out very well. The last one of the day was less than 100 yards away and GIGANTIC, but my camera chose that exact moment to run out of battery ooomph. Oh well.
We headed for Hot Springs, which is super cute, and into the aforementioned spa! I could spend hours lollygagging around in there. :) It is vacation, after all.
More later! Tomorrow we'll see either Jewel Cave or Wind Cave, then do the scenic highways leading into Lead / Deadwood. We like this hotel so much we're tempted to drive back down to Hot Springs tomorrow night, but it would eat abt 3 hrs in driving. . . We'll see. I think Matt's hot to hit a casino in Deadwood anyway.
Don't forget to check out today's pictures!
It was a super busy day today, and lots of fun! We started at the Minuteman Missile park just outside Wall -- it's the newest National Park! We lucked out again in that it's the last day they'll be doing tours for some time, while they redo the electrical. This normally isn't my kind of thing, but it was really interesting and I learned a lot. In fact, I learned enough stuff that, had I known it beforehand I would've been way more interested to go in the first place! Who can ask for more than that?
We saw Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments today, and then headed into Custer State Park. We did a little hiking, checked out the local wildlife, etc. Another fun day with animal sightings -- two chipmunks actually came up and tugged our pant legs! It was cute but sad because we figure they've been fed by tourists.
We saw bison grazing in the park as well, but my pictures didn't turn out very well. The last one of the day was less than 100 yards away and GIGANTIC, but my camera chose that exact moment to run out of battery ooomph. Oh well.
We headed for Hot Springs, which is super cute, and into the aforementioned spa! I could spend hours lollygagging around in there. :) It is vacation, after all.
More later! Tomorrow we'll see either Jewel Cave or Wind Cave, then do the scenic highways leading into Lead / Deadwood. We like this hotel so much we're tempted to drive back down to Hot Springs tomorrow night, but it would eat abt 3 hrs in driving. . . We'll see. I think Matt's hot to hit a casino in Deadwood anyway.
Don't forget to check out today's pictures!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Wild Kingdom
The Badlands National Park was insanely awesome. We spent hours and hours wandering around, checking out the scenic overlooks and so forth. We were almost unbelievably lucky and saw a great deal of wildlife through the day. I don't know if it's the time of year, or the fact that it isn't as crowded, but we saw TONS of animals. We were also fortunate to be in the park on the first day of their annual buffalo roundup! It made our day so special that I thought I'd break our favorite animal pictures into a separate post.
The first animals we saw were the bighorn sheep. We learned later from a Park Ranger (a hoosier, which we discovered as soon as he saw Matt's Purdue sweatshirt) that it's not often that you see bighorn sheep anyway, but it's particularly unusual for the males to be present. The females stick together and the males tend to go off by themselves except during mating season, which happens to be about now.
So that was on the right side of the road, next to a scenic overlook. On the left side of the road were the rock formations that most people think of when they think of the Badlands. This was really our first big opportunity to really take in the view, and one of the first things we saw were three bison grazing! We found out later we were even luckier to see those bison grazing than we thought.
Our next fun Animal Planet moment was discovering Roberts Prairie Dog Town. As far as the eye can see, it's prarie dog mounds and little prairie dogs running around. Here's a little guy that squeaked at us when we stopped the car to watch for a while.
While we were checking out the prairie dogs, another couple drove by and asked if we were aware that the buffalo round-up was going to start in about 30 minutes. We resolved to check it out, but it was pretty hard to tear ourselves away from the views and the animals we were already seeing! Driving toward the Sage Basin overlook we saw a large herd of bison crowded around one end of a fence and figured we were getting close.
There was a two-lane track leading off the main (unpaved) road leading to a group of buildings and a big fence with solid sides on the inside. There was a school bus parked out front, so we figured we were in the right place.
Every year around this time, a cooperative made of park rangers, park service people, area ranchers, and so forth all get together to round up the buffalo. They're weighed, measured, tagged, and they have their blood taken to check for tuberculosis and brusilosis, which is a disease that causes infertility and spontaneous abortions in both cattle and buffalo. Since they've been testing, they have not found a single case of either.
Not all bison are rounded up each year. Of the 800+ head herd, maybe 400-500 are rounded up each year. They use horses and jeeps to herd the bison into pens, and from there they're gradually maneuvered into smaller and smaller chutes, until they get to the spot where the work is done. There are movable walls and doors through the chutes, so the buffalo can be moved along but still kept safe. They finally wind up in a big gray chute where they're weighed and measured. Then they go into this blue thing that looks kind of like a car wash. The walls squish in on them just enough to keep them still, and their head goes through an opening on the other end. A big pole pushes their head to the side so their neck is exposed. They used to put a metal ring in the buffalo's nose to lead them around and hold them still, but that took many more men and was much more dangerous for both the bison and the men. Here's a look at an average sized bison in the chute.
Don't be worried about the blood on the bottom! They take the blood from a large vein in the buffalo's neck, and sometimes it doesn't stop bleeding right away after they take the sample. The bison are a little stressed when they're in this part of the chute, which keeps their blood pressure up. The blood on the ground there is actually from more than one bison, and they're all fine. After they're checked out, they're numbered and put into other pens, where they wait until they're all released back into the park. The park people use the numbers to know who's been in the pen the longest, and they get released first.
When we were there, there was a big crowd of parks people waiting for this one bison to come through. They eyeballed him during the roundup and he was seven feet tall at the hump! That means he's probably around 15-20 years old. We also saw Paige Baker, the park superintendent. If you check out the park visitor info you'll see his picture. His brother, Jerald I think his name is, is the superintendent of Mt. Rushmore! So we were lucky again to be able to see such a local celebrity.
The park ranger said we were actually quite unlikely to see bison in the park today, because most of them would be here getting tagged.
When we were driving to the buffalo round-up we saw what we thought was a wolf running around in prairie dog town, and we spent some time watching him through the binoculars to see what he'd do. I'll confess to a certain amount of bloodlust -- even though those prairie dogs are cute I kind of wanted to see the wolf hunt and eat one! Matt says that's mean, but I didn't notice him dropping his binoculars at any point either. ha ha When we mentioned this to the park ranger at the round-up and described the animal, he said it was a coyote. I took some pictures that we thought were really neat of him trotting around, but they were pretty far away. On our way back to the Badlands Loop from the round-up, we were ASTOUNDED to see the coyote just sitting on the side of the road! This is my favorite picture of the trip so far. The coyote was about five feet away from us when I took this picture.
After we got to the Badlands Loop drive, which is paved, the animal sightings slowed down a little bit. We saw lots of birds, but not close enough to be able to identify any (I kind of suck at that even in perfect conditions). There are a lot more overlooks and the terrain is much more rugged. We saw lots of deer and sheep tracks on the sides, and there were cattle and horses grazing in some parts of the basins. The rattlesnakes aren't around much this time of year, it's getting too cold for them. We did see one snake, but he was very small and gray so we're not sure what he was.
We were on our way to a scenic overlook when we saw this little cutey warming himself in the sun. At first we thought he was dead, then we thought he was injured because of the way his legs were sticking out. He was a foot or two away when we walked by, and other than getting up into a crouching position he didn't seem to think anything about us at all. There was a half-eaten carrot next to the boardwalk, so who knows how wild he actually is any more. He was sweet and I really really wanted to pet him. :)
We ran out of time and didn't go down to the Wounded Knee Monument like we hoped. It would be a 140+ mile round trip, and there just isn't enough time this trip. Tomorrow we're going to see the Minuteman Missle monument and head into the Black Hills. I think we'll end up spending two days in the Black Hills, there's a ton to do.
The first animals we saw were the bighorn sheep. We learned later from a Park Ranger (a hoosier, which we discovered as soon as he saw Matt's Purdue sweatshirt) that it's not often that you see bighorn sheep anyway, but it's particularly unusual for the males to be present. The females stick together and the males tend to go off by themselves except during mating season, which happens to be about now.
So that was on the right side of the road, next to a scenic overlook. On the left side of the road were the rock formations that most people think of when they think of the Badlands. This was really our first big opportunity to really take in the view, and one of the first things we saw were three bison grazing! We found out later we were even luckier to see those bison grazing than we thought.
Our next fun Animal Planet moment was discovering Roberts Prairie Dog Town. As far as the eye can see, it's prarie dog mounds and little prairie dogs running around. Here's a little guy that squeaked at us when we stopped the car to watch for a while.
While we were checking out the prairie dogs, another couple drove by and asked if we were aware that the buffalo round-up was going to start in about 30 minutes. We resolved to check it out, but it was pretty hard to tear ourselves away from the views and the animals we were already seeing! Driving toward the Sage Basin overlook we saw a large herd of bison crowded around one end of a fence and figured we were getting close.
There was a two-lane track leading off the main (unpaved) road leading to a group of buildings and a big fence with solid sides on the inside. There was a school bus parked out front, so we figured we were in the right place.
Every year around this time, a cooperative made of park rangers, park service people, area ranchers, and so forth all get together to round up the buffalo. They're weighed, measured, tagged, and they have their blood taken to check for tuberculosis and brusilosis, which is a disease that causes infertility and spontaneous abortions in both cattle and buffalo. Since they've been testing, they have not found a single case of either.
Not all bison are rounded up each year. Of the 800+ head herd, maybe 400-500 are rounded up each year. They use horses and jeeps to herd the bison into pens, and from there they're gradually maneuvered into smaller and smaller chutes, until they get to the spot where the work is done. There are movable walls and doors through the chutes, so the buffalo can be moved along but still kept safe. They finally wind up in a big gray chute where they're weighed and measured. Then they go into this blue thing that looks kind of like a car wash. The walls squish in on them just enough to keep them still, and their head goes through an opening on the other end. A big pole pushes their head to the side so their neck is exposed. They used to put a metal ring in the buffalo's nose to lead them around and hold them still, but that took many more men and was much more dangerous for both the bison and the men. Here's a look at an average sized bison in the chute.
Don't be worried about the blood on the bottom! They take the blood from a large vein in the buffalo's neck, and sometimes it doesn't stop bleeding right away after they take the sample. The bison are a little stressed when they're in this part of the chute, which keeps their blood pressure up. The blood on the ground there is actually from more than one bison, and they're all fine. After they're checked out, they're numbered and put into other pens, where they wait until they're all released back into the park. The park people use the numbers to know who's been in the pen the longest, and they get released first.
When we were there, there was a big crowd of parks people waiting for this one bison to come through. They eyeballed him during the roundup and he was seven feet tall at the hump! That means he's probably around 15-20 years old. We also saw Paige Baker, the park superintendent. If you check out the park visitor info you'll see his picture. His brother, Jerald I think his name is, is the superintendent of Mt. Rushmore! So we were lucky again to be able to see such a local celebrity.
The park ranger said we were actually quite unlikely to see bison in the park today, because most of them would be here getting tagged.
When we were driving to the buffalo round-up we saw what we thought was a wolf running around in prairie dog town, and we spent some time watching him through the binoculars to see what he'd do. I'll confess to a certain amount of bloodlust -- even though those prairie dogs are cute I kind of wanted to see the wolf hunt and eat one! Matt says that's mean, but I didn't notice him dropping his binoculars at any point either. ha ha When we mentioned this to the park ranger at the round-up and described the animal, he said it was a coyote. I took some pictures that we thought were really neat of him trotting around, but they were pretty far away. On our way back to the Badlands Loop from the round-up, we were ASTOUNDED to see the coyote just sitting on the side of the road! This is my favorite picture of the trip so far. The coyote was about five feet away from us when I took this picture.
After we got to the Badlands Loop drive, which is paved, the animal sightings slowed down a little bit. We saw lots of birds, but not close enough to be able to identify any (I kind of suck at that even in perfect conditions). There are a lot more overlooks and the terrain is much more rugged. We saw lots of deer and sheep tracks on the sides, and there were cattle and horses grazing in some parts of the basins. The rattlesnakes aren't around much this time of year, it's getting too cold for them. We did see one snake, but he was very small and gray so we're not sure what he was.
We were on our way to a scenic overlook when we saw this little cutey warming himself in the sun. At first we thought he was dead, then we thought he was injured because of the way his legs were sticking out. He was a foot or two away when we walked by, and other than getting up into a crouching position he didn't seem to think anything about us at all. There was a half-eaten carrot next to the boardwalk, so who knows how wild he actually is any more. He was sweet and I really really wanted to pet him. :)
We ran out of time and didn't go down to the Wounded Knee Monument like we hoped. It would be a 140+ mile round trip, and there just isn't enough time this trip. Tomorrow we're going to see the Minuteman Missle monument and head into the Black Hills. I think we'll end up spending two days in the Black Hills, there's a ton to do.
Where the heck is Wall Drugs?
The first real day of vacation started after a great night's sleep at our new favorite hotel, and breakfast at the world famous Wall Drugs.
This drug store and tourist trap is as big as a city block, and is jammed full of . . . well, stuff. There is an actual drug store and pharmacy in there, but the rest of it is a combination souvenir shop / restaurant / attraction. Wall Drugs became famous during the Depression for giving away free ice water.
So after some greasy spoon grub (skipped the homemade doughnuts today but may not tomorrow!), we shopped for souvies and enjoyed the attractions. Here's Matt enjoying a Jackalope.
Not content to junk up the main drag of Wall, South Dakota, Wall Drug has decorated the little plot of land overlooking exit 110 with an 80 foot dinosaur.
Wall also hosts the National Grasslands Visitor Center, which had a great 25 minute movie by the US Forestry Service and some cool displays of local wildlife.
We were disappointed that the Wounded Knee Museum had closed for the season, since we won't have time to do the 140+ mile roundtrip to visit the monument.
After all that it was off to the Badlands!
This drug store and tourist trap is as big as a city block, and is jammed full of . . . well, stuff. There is an actual drug store and pharmacy in there, but the rest of it is a combination souvenir shop / restaurant / attraction. Wall Drugs became famous during the Depression for giving away free ice water.
So after some greasy spoon grub (skipped the homemade doughnuts today but may not tomorrow!), we shopped for souvies and enjoyed the attractions. Here's Matt enjoying a Jackalope.
Not content to junk up the main drag of Wall, South Dakota, Wall Drug has decorated the little plot of land overlooking exit 110 with an 80 foot dinosaur.
Wall also hosts the National Grasslands Visitor Center, which had a great 25 minute movie by the US Forestry Service and some cool displays of local wildlife.
We were disappointed that the Wounded Knee Museum had closed for the season, since we won't have time to do the 140+ mile roundtrip to visit the monument.
After all that it was off to the Badlands!
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