Hot Springs, South Dakota

 Friday, October 1, 2021

Our last day in the Black Hills...and a day with no plans.

The morning view from our deck.

Armed with lots of Black Hills tourist brochures and a map we decided over breakfast that we would head south....to the town of Hot Springs. Because we were in no hurry, we chose to take the longer route going and make the return trip a little more direct.

In our new car (which technically is two years old but seems new since we have done very little traveling during the pandemic!) the first thing I always do is connect my iPhone. The car is equipped with Apple CarPlay and it is nice to be able to use Google Maps and some of the other apps on my phone via the screen on the dash. BUT...connecting my phone did nothing. I fiddled and fiddled but the car and my phone just weren't going to play nice.

I finally had Bob pull over, turn off the car and then restart it. This procedure usually yields pretty good results when I have issues with my home computer, but in this case...nothing. My consensus was that the iPhone cable must have gone bad so I gave up. Using Google Maps was still possible on the phone, it just meant Bob no longer had the larger screen map to follow. 

Fossils don't rank very high on my list of things to see when we travel, but Bob thought it would be interesting to visit the the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. The active paleontological dig site has the largest concentration of mammoth remains in the world and also fossils of other Ice Age animals such as camel, llama, giant short-faced bear, wolf, and coyote.

The Lows and Highs of our Day in the Black Hills

Thursday, September 30, 2021

With our last visit only a year ago AND extending our trip a few days this year we were able to be more relaxed and not feel the pressure to be on the go all of the time. Today I gave myself permission to not set an alarm and have a more leisurely morning enjoying my coffee. Bob (as usual) decided the morning gave him the time to hike up the hill by our cabin. On his hike he had a "small world" moment when he ran into a couple who had originally lived not too far from our home but retired and bought the house right across the road from the AirBnB where we were staying. (Stay tuned for an even "smaller world" moment coming up tomorrow!)

There were no concrete plans today so after a bit of a discussion, we decided to drive into Wind Cave National Park. Our AirBnB is right on the border of the park so we had been on the back roads on our wildlife quest but had not yet entered the park "officially". This time we went through at the park entrance, but used our America the Beautiful pass so there was no fee. 

From our son's experience and reading reviews online, I knew taking a cave tour meant showing up at the crack of dawn to get a ticket. So when we stopped at the visitor center at 10:40 am we expected to just go through quickly and look at the exhibits. Besides, taking a cave tour with a group of people was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to be doing in a pandemic.

BUT...as we entered I heard the guy behind the counter saying that they still had a couple of tickets left for the 11 am tour. A little voice in one ear was saying "no way...why would you want to be in such a confined place with a bunch of strangers!" while the other ear was hearing "go for it...you know how much Bob loves caves!" 

Long Lost Memories in Custer State Park

 Wednesday, September 29, 2021

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday's blue skies and warm temps were gone and we woke up to a windy overcast day with highs only in the mid-50's. Definitely a jeans and jacket sort of day.

The goal for the day was to explore in Custer State Park, specifically Needles Highway and a couple of other spots that our son had suggested after their recent Black Hills trip. 

Going north on route 385 provides a pretty good view of the Crazy Horse Monument. Visiting the monument was on our tentative itinerary but we never made it so I was glad I took some photos as we were driving past. (Something to look forward to on a future visit!) I was using a pretty long zoom, but the highway view isn't too bad even with the naked eye.

The large truck parked on the arm gives some perspective on just how huge this sculpture is!

Heads in the Mud

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Many years ago we did a family camping trip to the Black Hills and hit most of the major tourist sites with our 2 boys (son #3 hadn't come along yet.) The youngest at the time was about 3 years old and didn't quite grasp the idea of a sculpture so he referred to the four presidents carved into Mt. Rushmore as the "heads in the mud". Hence the title of this blog post. 

The AirBnb apartment where we were staying was an efficiency built above a large garage next to the owner's home. The upstairs space had been quite warm when we arrived the previous afternoon so when we went to bed I had left the windows open and the ceiling fans running. As the temperatures dropped during the night the apartment became cooler and cooler and by the time we woke up both Bob and I were freezing! 

Last year we didn't make it to Mt. Rushmore so this year it became a priority on our to-do list. We got an early start and as we were pulling out of the driveway our car showed an outside temperature of 47º in the valley. When we arrived at the Mt. Rushmore National Monument 45 minutes later the temp had risen to 67º!

Admission to the monument is free, but there is a fee for the parking garage. It was a bit confusing trying to figure out how to use the automated kiosk to get a parking pass. The regular fee is $10 (good for a whole year!) but the senior citizen rate is half of that...$5. It was unclear how we were to prove we were "old folks", but at one point a question popped up on the screen asking if we were 62 or older. There was no human interaction at any point in the process so I'm assuming it must be on the honor system. The machine spit out a parking pass which we would show as we pulled out of the garage. I doubt we get back to Mt. Rushmore anytime in the next year but if we do, our parking pass will still be valid!

At 8:30 am, the monument was already quite busy. After walking through the Avenue of Flags, we took the obligatory selfie from the viewing terrace. 

Spearfish Canyon is Golden

 Monday, September 27, 2021

Our plans didn't require getting up early, but regardless I was up by 6:15 am. It wasn't long before Bob was also awake so we (meaning mostly Bob!) packed up the car. After a quick breakfast we were on the road. A flock of wild turkeys was there to say goodbye as we pulled out of the Turtle House driveway. Barely a mile down the road we had to brake to avoid hitting a couple of deer. (So many deer in the Spearfish area!!!) In less than 3 miles, we turned onto the Spearfish Canyon Highway.

Wild turkeys.

Spearfish Canyon is (in my opinion) one of the most beautiful drives you can find. Tall bluffs line the sides of the highway which follows along Spearfish Canyon Creek. That time of the morning, the sun was just beginning to climb above the bluffs lighting up the golden colored trees.