Rodeway Inn Mt Rushmore Rapid City

... State Park has campgrounds, cabins and a lodge, all of which require reservations during the summer season. And, we've learned that the most scenic portions of the byway close after the first snow fall - so plan accordingly!!

Here's a link to the Norbeck Byway http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/24 59/

... 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!!

... the difference in the pictures since this friend was actually a part of the round up.

We've also included a link to the state park and this annual event. It is definately something everyone should plan on attending at least once - it is truly a unique experience.

http://www.sdgfp.inf o/Parks/Regions/Custer/round.htm

... which caused us to break into song... Home, Home on the Range! Danny begged for mercy so we stopped. Around the next bend was a huge herd of Buffalo. We got right next to a mean ole bull who was carrying on something fierce. He had me worried that he'd gouge the car but he was all noise.

After leaving Custer, we stopped for a roadside picnic near Coolidge Peak. After eating, Danny
took over the driving so we could go up to the ...

... a folk-art wonder" on the prairie of South Dakota. The theme for 2009 is "America 's Destinations".

We also visited Wall, South Dakota and the "World" famous Wall drug store, which covered an entire block of the town. You name it and they had it, if it had anything to do with the West.

We arrived late evening and set up camp, which will be our home for the next 5 nights.

... stopped there. One of the Rushmore sculptors was commissioned by some Indian chiefs (in the 30's) to carve a statue of General Custer's friend Crazy Horse in the black hills granite. It is roughed out, and the face is finished, and the descendants of the original sculptor are still blasting and carving. The black hills area is a very interesting and strikingly beautiful geologic phenomenon. It is a circle ...

... After departing Calgary under reasonably clear skies, we picked up an in flight broadcast for severe turbulence below 7000'. I've never experienced severe turbulence, and don't really want to, but had we not been listening... The warning defined a line extending directly in front of us, 20 miles ahead east to west at Lethbridge. We climbed over a clear line of clouds and only had some light bumps. Crossing the US border, we ...

... memorial which is under construction, but the pictures I will post will give you some idea what it's all about. We watched an orientation film about the project and that answered a lot of my quesitions about it, including "What's taking so long?" This project was started in about 1948 and at first glance it doesn't look like they've gotten very far. But when you take into consideration the manpower, the money, the weather, etc. it all begins to make sense. And in reality, there has ...

It doesn't take too long to get the herd corralled, but there's always a few stragglers that slow things up. Even so, it was all over by 10:00. Once the bison are in their pen, we were invited down to look at some of the animals close-up. You don't want to approach these guys without a big fence separating you. Bison can run up to 35 mph , weigh up to a ton and they can be really nasty. They are not big cows.