Fairfield Inn & Stes At Watiki Indoor Waterpark Rapid City

... the most unique scenic byways we have travelled on.

Because of the recent storms, which dropped quite a bit of snow at the higher elevations, we were not able to complete the Norbeck Byway - it's a loop road. We were able to do short portions of either end of it. Because this byway skirts Custer State Park we decided to take ...

... more days of rain as well as unseasonably cool temperatures. We do have a few more sights we'd like to visit while we are here so we may just have to bundle up and head out. The only problem is we don't really have any cold weather clothing. I guess we will just have to layer on the sweathshirts and Ken will have to wear long pants!!

We were up early today for the short drive from our campground out to Custer State Park. We had arrived in Rapid City in time for the annual buffalo roundup and we were looking forward to taking this event off our 'list'. We've included quite a few pictures that we took along with a few that a friend of a friend took. You will be able to ...

... formation that looms 865 feet above the tree lined Belle Fourche River Valle. The stone pillar is 1,000 feet in diameter at the bottom and 275 feet at the top.



There is a Kiowa Indian legend that tells of seven sisters and a brother. The brother was magically transformed into a giant bear and the sisters ran for their lives. They climbed a nearby tree stump and it began to rise to the sky. The bear clawed at the bark of the tree trying to ...

... Native Indian Museum is also being established with an attached educational center. We spent a long time in the museum, but simply did not have the time to see everything. Many folks from around the world have left their Native American collections to the Museum.

As we drove away from the Crazy Horse Monument we took the needles scenic highway ...

... After the drive through, we parked and took a walk through 'Babyland' where we saw beaver, otter, frox and 10 month old baby bears, that just wanted to play fight all day. They were gorgeous, and looked so cuddly. Really cute. (FYI, once the babies are weaned from their mums, they're bought into a enclosure for their own protection, as the male bears are known to kill and eat them). Our next stop was face-to ...

... to put my rings in his hat. He apparently forgot where they were when he whipped his hat back onto his head. Both rings went flying!!! I found the wedding band (The much cheaper of the two) right away. The other was still missing on rustic rocky ground. It took several minutes of panic before I located my engagement ring on a picnic table bench. Phew!!! Once on our horses with about another ten riders, we headed out onto the winding, rough trails. Phil was the trail ...

... where we swung North in search of the Devil's Tower National Monument. Appointed National Monument status by Roosevelt in 1906 it has the honour of being the first in the United States. Something which Wyoming has a certain pride about as it also boasts the first National Park, Yellowstone. Devil's Tower is located 31 miles off the I-90 and is surprisingly elusive at first, not knowing exactly what it looked like I recalled it had an intriguing ...

... mod vores bil, men drejede af i sidste sekund, spænding af høj kaliber. I øvrigt er vi blevet overraskede over, at der er tusinder af motorcykler i netop det område, vi befinder os i. Om 1 lille uges tid er der et kæmpe motorcykeltræf, "Sturgis", hvilket trækker ca. 300.000 bikere til. Heldigvis er der jo plads nok på vejene.... Det giver os blot lidt problemer med at finde hoteller, men ...

... work you can now drive through it. Back at the cabin and reading in the sun plus another hours sleeping >> mountain air. MJ then got on with the daily chores of downloading the photos and writing up the blog. We've had problems with the wireless here, which we've assumed was the PC. Major stress as MJ realized he was cut off in the wilderness!! Much proposed remedial work ended with a late-night car drive up the nearby Best ...