Best Western And Conference Center Hotel Rapid City

... He gave me some strong antibiotics so I hope to be back to full health in time for tea and crumpets on the front lawn.

With a new found respect for life coursing through my veins, I headed to Mount Rushmore to see four giant faces in a row. And I wasn't disappointed. There were four of them. They were giant. And strike me down if they weren't in a row.

Just down the road was Crazy ...

... 8 motel, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise, as for the same price as we've been paying in the last 4 hotels we've got a separate room for the kids (with tv), the usual free wi-fi & breakfast and a indoor heated swimming pool – which Fred & the kids are planning to use shortly. Pizza Hut delivered our dinner, which was far more than we could eat, but still yummy. Off to catch up on our two huge loads of laundry, while I sip my A&W Root Beer.....

We had a long drive across the great plains punctuated with visits to the Corn Palace and Wall Drugs. I could have skipped the Corn Palace but it is something you must say you've done. We did spend some time (and money) at Wall Drugs which is a series of stores wrapped up in the lore of the West. After seeing miles of signs for the place, it lived up to our expectations. We also stopped ...

The first 50 or so miles of the drive from Sioux Falls passed quickly, due mainly to the fantastic punnery employed by the marketers of the Corn Palace ("Corn-sider visiting...", "see the magnificent Ear-chitecture...") which is the world's only palace made of corn. On arrival we were a bit disappointed that we'd been slightly misled in that only really the building's façade was of corn construction, however the Palace redeemed ...

... in her experiences and learn more about this part of the world. Her presentation will be held on Thursday, August 28th at the SD School of Mines in the Surbeck Center's Bump Lounge. It will begin at 7 PM with time for questions to follow. Everyone is welcome to this free presentation. Please contact Ashley at 391-0645 or Suzi Aadland at 394-6884 for more information.

... Struck by the Ree, was born during the council with the Yankton Sioux. Lewis supposedly wrapped the baby in an American flag and called him an American. We took a little bit of time and explored there. I started thinking about what it must have been like traveling the river. Later as we drove, I thought about what it might have been like for the early settlers who came this way. It is a long enough drive by auto, I couldn't imagine doing it by covered ...

Started from home in Urbandale, IA. Target Black Hills, SD. We made stop in 1880 Town. Overnight in Wall.
Tomorrow reached Rapid City where we made "base camp".
For next 5 days we visited Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer City, Deadwood, Ho Spring, Tatanka Museum, Devils Tower, WY.

On our way back home we visited Sioux city.

... Dakota, "Supervolcano" came to mind. Why? A particular scene they have where Rapid City becomes quickly covered in volcanic ash as Yellowstone transforms Bambi and friends into smoking piles of ash. I hope everyone sleeps well tonight! In all seriousness though, Rapid City isn't bad. Like a lot of western cities, it has a particular abundance of one-story homes. God knows why; probably to make them more resistant ...

It's our second night here in Keystone, South Dakota. Today we majored in caving. No, we didn't all just give in, at least not in general, but we did go south to the Wind Cave National Park. This is the first national park created specifically for the protection of a cave system. It is currently the fourth longest cave system in the United States. I say currently because it is not fully explored yet. Every year a new expedition adds on several miles as they are ...

... doing a nice hike in the morning, but decided to wait and see how I felt. It was a miserable night, I could sleep on my right side for a while, but then have to shift. No other position would let me sleep so I'd wait a while get back on my side and try again. I packed up early skipped my hike and found a chiropractor in Rapid City. I hadn't ever been to one, but he checked things out and said I had got out of alignment, probably from all of the driving, and ...