Category Archives: 2018

Even though the stores started putting out their Christmas things before Halloween, and Hallmark was showing Christmas movies before Thanksgiving, we still felt the need to do something to get us in the mood. Many of the Hallmark movies show Christmas in a small town with simple activities, like festivals and holiday markets that don’t include huge admission fees, and a few years ago we put on our bucket list “A Small Town Christmas”. This was our year and we chose a place close by in Georgia. Actually, our destination included a general area in North Georgia with several small towns with lots of different activities to choose from.
Last year we noticed in the credits of one of the Hallmark movies that part of it had been filmed in Dahlonega, Georgia. Not too far from Dahlonega is Cleveland, Hiawassee, and Helen, all fitting the description of “small town” so that was where we were heading. We invited Jim’s two sisters, Carol and Lyle and off we went. Our base camp was Helen with its Alpine theme and distinctive German faire.

Helen, Georgia

We only had three days to convert our Scrooge-like attitudes to visions of sugar plums and, as we have experienced in Alaska, the weather was not going to help us out much.  Rain and cold temperatures were highly likely for at least Friday and Saturday but we were determined to not let it stop us.  According to all the Chamber material we gathered there were 2 parades, 3 markets for shopping, town and tree lightings in each town, a Victorian Christmas House,  a Christmas Concert, and a Mountain Country Christmas in Lights; all happening during our three day stay.  These special events were in addition to all the charming little shops found in the town squares of all three towns.  “Shop till you drop” became our mantra and we even found ourselves in a Walmart twice during our stay.

Hiawasse, GA – Christmas in the Mountains

Village in Hiawase all decorated with lights

Petting Zoo

Photo booth at Christmas in the Mountains

The only activity we missed was the Christmas Parade and that was because we were too wimpy to stand in the rain.  The parade took place as scheduled even though the rain was heavy!  That evening, after the parade and a quick dinner, we attended a concert by the North Georgia Chamber Symphony at the Methodist Church in Dahlonega.  What the heck!  It was raining and it was inside where it was dry.  We sat in the balcony with a planned escape route should things require an early exit.  Much to our surprise, the concert was excellent with 25 extremely talented musicians who made the time fly by.  Who knew violins, cellos and violas could sound so good.

Sunday was sunny and warm so we took advantage of the nice weather.  After attending a service at a quaint little church in Helen, we walked around their Christkindle Market set up in small white tents along the street.  The most interesting of all the items were rusty tools, I mean drill bits and pliers kinds of tools, made of delicious Belgian chocolate.  You had to see this to believe it.

Hard to believe these items are chocolate

After lunch we hiked to Anna Ruby Falls in the Unicoi State Park

Water flowing from Ruby Falls as we walked to the falls

Ruby Falls

and then on to Dahlonega to check out their stores and have a delicious dinner in one of their restaurants.  By the time the weekend was over, we were all singing along with the Christmas songs on the radio and Carol was planning her decorating when she got back home.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Stores on the square in Dahlonega

On the square in Helen, GA

We have been to Nashville several times over the years and developed a ‘favorites’ list which includes Belle Meade Plantation for lunch and walk the property.

This plantation was started in the late 1700s and by the 1850’s it was one of the most beautiful Victorian-era southern estates in Tennessee with 5,400 acres.  John Harding started breeding race horses here and today every race horse in the U.S. can trace its lineage back to this plantation.

Beside they have really good food in their restaurant.

After lunch, we visited a new place; the Belmont Mansion.  This home was originally a summer home for a slave trader from Louisiana and his young bride.  There was a 28 year difference in their ages and he died when his wife was only 24 years old making her the wealthiest woman in the U.S.  Her husband had taken great pains to be sure she inherited his business and money regardless of the laws of that day.  She continued to run the business until she remarried and her new husband and he then ran the business until his death.  Back in the mid 1800’s she was worth over $14 million.

Entry way of house

There were additions to the house and she ultimately lived here full time and sold the property in Louisiana.  Over the course of her two marriages she had 7 children and only two lived to adulthood confirming that money is not the answer to all our problems.  The house was ultimately bequeathed to a girls school and now sits in the middle of their campus, which is kind of strange.

View from front door which now looks out into the campus

We left Saturday morning, stopping in Knoxville to have lunch with Bill and Carol Evans and their exchange student Sky Jin, a lovely teenage girl from China.  We had a great visit and we were immediately taken in by her sweet smile and charming personality.  It appears this is a match made in heaven.

We will be spending the last four days in Maggie Valley, NC just relaxing and taking in the scenery.  We hear there is a hurricane coming so we are leaving before it gets here and expect to be home late Wednesday night.

Waynesville, NC right next door to Maggie Valley

No trip to St. Louis would be complete (at least for me) without a trip to the St. Louis Zoo.  Even though it was unseasonably hot (over 90 degrees), we went early and stayed to mid- afternoon.

Train around the perimeter of park

Cheetahs

Asian Elephants  (MG’s favorite animal)

Red Panda

Prairie Dog

Playful Sea Lion

Grumpy Gorilla

Polar Bear

Baby Zebra born this year 2018

Crown Crane

Okapi

Nyal

Okapi

Trainer working with Sea Lion

A beautiful day with sunshine and blue skies and we took advantage of the weather to explore St. Charles and St. Louis.  We arrived in St. Charles just in time to take a trolley ride to see and hear all about this quaint little portion of downtown St. Charles that was established in 1769 and is the oldest city on the Missouri. 

Main Street in St. Charles

Maybe this is why it was named the first capital of Missouri for the first six years of its statehood. The city was also the actual starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Missouri River at St. Charles

Sitting very close to the river is the Lewis & Clark Boathouse and Museum dedicated to this amazing accomplishment that includes life-size replicas of the keel-boat taken to the Mandan villages in modern-day North Dakota and the two pirogues that continued on to present day Montana.  Considering all that we read and saw, it was just extraordinary that they made it all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back.  The expedition started in the spring of 1804 and it took them 20 months to get to the Pacific and 6 months to return to St. Charles.  After this length of time many people thought they had all perished and in fact, they had only lost one man from their group though the entire trip.

I remembered hearing about Sacagawea, the Shoshone girl, way back in the stone age when I was in history class, but I never remembered she was pregnant when she joined the expedition and that Clark actually helped deliver the baby.  I also never heard that having the woman and a baby really helped because a ‘war party’ would not have women or babies with them so they were never seen as a threat to the Native Americans they encountered.

The rest of the town is filled with restaurants, shops and history that was fun to imagine.  There is a small patch of road that is maintained in the original wooden planks that was used back in the early days.  The balance of the road is still brick and I suspect maintained and replaced as needed as well.  Many of the buildings are still the original structures back from the early history of the town showing the wooden early structures, the later brick and finally limestone when the brick gave out.

There is a Missouri dessert I keep hearing about called Gooey Butter Cake and we found a Soda Shop in town that had some for me to try.  I don’t know if it was this particular version or not, but it was not my favorite.  However, we bought some cookies from Grandma’s Cookies that are maybe the best I’ve ever eaten.  I did find out they do ship so I may be in trouble.

We were really taken by St. Charles and stayed longer than we had planned, but now we  headed to St. Louis.  The main purpose of going into St. Louis was to be in the Gateway Arch at sunset to see if we could get some really great pictures. 

We were here back in 2006 and a lot has changed (or our memories are worse than we thought).  Now, there is a really detailed movie showing various stages of the construction that had me sitting on the edge of my seat.  The top of the Arch is 630 feet high which is taller than any other man-made monument in the country and to be built one level at a time on each side until it met at the top.  The foundations were dug 60 feet down to bedrock and then 25,980 tons of concrete poured below ground.  There is another 12,127 tons of concrete between the skins of steels up to the 300 feet.

Designing the tram to get people to the top was a challenge once the Arch was built that had to be overcome because of the unique shape.  They finally settled on 8 cylinders strung together that would stay upright in the various positions and I sure am glad they got that solved.  If you are claustrophobic at all; stay away from the Gateway Arch.  Its like sitting in a big round ball with  5 seats very close together.  One side has glass so you can see the concrete and cables on the inside of the arch.  I guess its supposed to give you confidence that this thing is not going to fall apart.  I have to admit, I had to start thinking ‘happy thoughts’ because my mind was taking me in some dark places.

The view of the city was beautiful and we did stay long enough to see the sunset.

Courthouse in St. Louis from the Arch

Pi

Cardinal’s stadium from the Arch

Sunset from the Arch

We had a 1/2 day left in Kansas City, and we spent it in the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.  We have been to several other Presidential Libraries and wanted to compare but also get a better sense of why he made some of the decisions he made.  Like most people, I agreed with some of his decisions and disagreed with others.  I guess there are no perfect Presidents because there are no perfect people.

Mural in lobby of Truman Museum

Some memorable moments for me included:

When called to the White House by Eleanor Roosevelt and told the President was dead, Harry asked her if there was anything he could do for her.  Her response was typical, Eleanor, “You’re the one who is in trouble now”.

The revelation that his early political career was initiated and supported by the Kansas City Democratic political machine and those bosses were largely responsible for him being elected a Senator.  While in office, one of those bosses was sent to prison.  I guess politics has a long history of being slimy.

We dropped the first Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima but Russia dropped the second on Nagasaki.  I always thought we dropped both.  I guess I wasn’t listening carefully that day in history class.

The museum has a replica of his Oval Office, just like other Libraries, along with explanations of all the decisions and events happening in his administration which takes in the postwar era in the U.S., the Cold War, Recognition of Israel, his re-election, sending troops to Korea, investigation into domestic communists, and turning over the Presidency to Eisenhower.

Harry, Bess, Margaret and her husband are all buried in the courtyard.

After lunch we left for Columbia, MO to visit with our new friends we met on our Alaska trip, Joe and Debbie Shryock.  

Joe’s family has been farming there for over 100 years and he and his son and his brother continue to farm 4,000 acres of corn and soybeans using modern techniques his grandfather would find amazing.  They were kind enough to give us a tour of the farm and explain just how much is involved in what they do.  

Combines used in harvesting corn and soybeans

Fertilizer sprayer – Mg standing by wheel to show you the size of the equipment

In addition the farm operation, they began a Fall Corn Maze in 2002 and it has grown to be almost as spectacular as their farm operation.  This is an aerial picture of the 2018 maze on the postcard they send out.

18 acres is the size of the Maze

Look at the intricate design that encompasses 18 acres and involves over 4 miles of trails.  Each year the event gets bigger and better and has grown to include hayrides, bonfires complete with hot dog cooking, an amazing gumball machine that sends the ball over a long trip to the ceiling and back on tracks and pulleys.  They’ve also included a 40 foot tube slide and corn pit and so much more I can’t remember.  If we lived closer, I would have to come each year, no joke.  It looks like so much fun.  We were impressed to say the least.

It was wonderful to spend time with these new friends and we hope to be able to spend time together again before too long.

Sunset on the farm

Most of us have heard the song, but if you are like me,you have no idea what to see or do in Kansas City.  It didn’t take us long to get a full schedule to hit the highlights in 1 1/2 days, even though we had already gone to the Harry S. Truman home in Independence.

The first stop was the National World War I Museum; a must for all history buffs or curious people wanting to understand the cause of this horrendous happening.  What I could gather from the information was that most people had no concept of the horrors of war and went willingly eyes focused on some fanciful idealized version of war.  A radical Serbian insurgent assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria causing the two countries to declare war.  Within a week, eight or ten countries, in the name of their alliances, declared war on other countries and the mess began.  The ultimate results included the deaths of millions of soldiers from every country involved.  What a waste if you realize the world learned nothing and WWII followed, although the world had greater justification and worked harder to avoid the ultimate war.  The museum was interesting but I have to say the National WWII Museum in New Orleans and the Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Tx are still my favorites.

From the museum, it was a short walk to Union Station opened in 1914 after the 1903 flood halted train traffic in Kansas City and higher ground was sought for a more modern, larger rail station to handle all Kansas City train traffic. 

Inside the Station

It took 4 years to construct the new station and remained a traffic hub through WWI, a gangster episode in 1933, the return of soldiers in 1945, a feeble attempt to save the station by adding Amtrak, and its ultimate closing in 1983.  Not a bad run considering the loss of interest in train travel.

In 1996 voters in four counties – 3 in Missouri and 1 in Kansas – approve a state tax to provide funding to restore the Union Station.  Ultimately, $109 million was raised in private funds and $40 million in federal funds to secure the project.  Today, this building is on the National Register of Historic Places and houses restaurants, leased office space, world-class traveling exhibits as well as its own historic exhibit and Amtrak has returned.

On to lunch at Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant, which is a stretch of the use of the word ‘restaurant’, but if you have children, put it on your list of places to go.  Think Steak n Shake where the food is delivered by train engine on tracks over your head and lowered to your table.

Your food order is delivered by train to  your table on track that runs overhead

Your order is dropped on platform above your table and then lowered

F

Take your food from platform 

Two more stops before the day is over which involve LOTS of steps.  First the Hallmark Visitor Center which took us through a Halls Department Store.  I had no idea there was such a thing!  Anyway, we traced the start of the company by teenager, J. C. Hall with his shoebox filled with handmade postcards from his home in Nebraska to the bustling big city of Kansas City over 100 years ago through to today.  Integrity has always been the trademark of the company that now incorporates much more than greeting cards, including ornaments, movie productions, TV, Crayola Crayons, wrapping papers, and the list goes on.

The story of how wrapping paper began is interesting.  One year they ran out of the brown packaging paper typically used and began using the decorative paper used to make the inside of their envelopes.  It was wildly received and developed into a new product line.

Maxine  –  MaryGrace’s favorite 

Now over to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City where the Money Museum is located to help kids understand how money is created in our economy but also houses an interesting exhibit of coins minted in the year of each President’s term in office starting with George Washington and ending with Barak Obama.

We also got to see the Cash Vault and some employees packaging currency for shipment to banks.  After I took these pictures Jim noticed a sign saying not to take any photos.  Oh well!

This is the area where they shred over $4 million of unfit currency per day.

I’m tired and need to rest now, but one more place to go before we leave Kansas City, MO.   Kansas City, Kansas is right next to Kansas City, MO so Jim decided we needed to drive to Kansas City, Kansas, so we can say we have been in Kansas too.  That makes it official.  We have been in all 50 states of the U.S.

On the way to Missouri, we stopped in Omaha, Nebraska for one of those overnight stops that only serve to get you from point A to point B.  After dinner, we decided to find the Old Town in Omaha and this is one of those gems you find accidentally.  This old industrial area has been taken over by the young, hep generation of Millenniums with good jobs and salaries, and expensive diverse interests and tastes.

Cobblestone streets and sidewalks

It was a picture of contrasts with the tall brick warehouse type structures bearing names like “Fidelity Rug and Flooring” and “Capitol Paper” with first floor restaurants with patio dining on the street side filled with blue and purple haired waitstaff.  Several of the buildings are converted into condos and others are being worked on to become condos.  The streets were cobble stone and there were flower beds everywhere.  Jim was surprised to hear me say if I were young and single I could totally live in a place like this.  It just had a community vibe.

Shops and restaurants along street

An Alley way between warehouses turned into a nice outdoor area for several restaurants

Flowers everywhere, even on the rooftops

Later, we tracked down the Lewis and Clark Landing Park where the Missouri River had flooded three times; 1881, 1952 and more recently in 2011.  The flooding is generally caused by extremely heavy snowfalls when they melt coming out of the mountains in the Dakota. Obviously it doesn’t happen every year but when it does it is major.

Missouri River in Omaha, NE  –  Statues on left side of picture is of iron workers

Today we arrived in Kansas City, Missouri and picked the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site in Independence, MO to visit this afternoon.  This is the home that Truman lived in from 1919 when he married his beloved Bess until the day he died in 1972, except for the time he spent in Washington as a Senator, Vice President and President.  This is where he returned to when he left Washington requiring the Secret Service to install the iron fence to protect the house from tourist trying to take souvenirs and damaging the house.  What does that say about some Americans?

The house was originally owned by Bess’ family built in 1865 and added to in 1867.  President and Mrs. Truman did little to change the home except change flooring and wall paper but they lived very modestly never letting his position as President make him prideful or extravagant.

When Bess died in 1982 the home was willed to the government which included most of the furnishings as you would see it today.  Even their daughter, Margaret, left most of their things in the home to be viewed by the people who chose to visit.  We were not permitted to take pictures but I really wish we could have.  To think this family came out of the White House with all its many perks, pomp, and grandeur and returned to this humble home shows a portion of their character that may be missing in today’s political elite.

Garage behind house with a 1972 Chrysler Newport….Truman’s last car

Close up of car on jacks in garage and the license plate #5745 date of German surrender 

House across the street from Truman’s home which was owned by his aunt

Tomorrow will be sightseeing in Kansas City.

On our way to Sioux Falls this morning, we made a stop in Wall, SD to see the Wall Drug Store which was a must on Jim’s bucket list.  Are you kidding me?  A Drug Store?  Was I ever surprised to see an entire street, on both sides, filled with what was once a single drug store gone viral.  On the way to this bucket list destination, we saw many road signs advertising “Free Ice Water” at Wall Drugs.  More signs than you see advertising South of the Border and that’s saying something.

Interesting columns to hold up the overhang at Wall Drug – trees from the area

Main Street in Wall, SD – Wall drug is on the right side

The background story goes something like this:  In 1931 Ted and Dorothy Hustead bought the Wall Drug Store on the edge of the South Dakota Badlands.  Population of Wall was 326 fairly poor people, mostly farmers suffering from the Depression or drought.  Both their families had told Ted and Dorothy that buying this store in the middle of nowhere was a mistake but they felt it was the right thing for them to do.  They were going to give themselves 5 years to make a go of it.  Ted even studied some veterinary medicine to add to his pharmacy license to help the farmers in their new community.

It was July of the fifth year and nothing was getting any better.  December would be the end of the five years and although they loved the people in the town they were no closer to making the drug store a success.  It was hot and humid and Dorothy left the store to put the children down for nap and maybe take one herself because Ted didn’t need any help in an empty store.  Within a very short time she was back because all the road noise from Route 16A.  There was lots of traffic and she suggested they offer free ice water to all these travelers who were out there to draw them into the store.  The next weekend they put up signs all along the road and it brought in all the customers they could handle.  By the next summer, they had to hire 8 ladies to help serve the ice water, ice cream cones, food, and generally handle all the sales the Drug Store was getting from the people stopping for free ice water.  Today, the store draws up to twenty thousand people on a really hot summer day and based on what we saw, it will be continuing for a long time.

After leaving with our free ice water, we drove through the Badlands National Park.  Both the Lakota Indians and the French called this area “bad lands” because of the intense heat, peaks, gullies, buttes, and wide prairies devoid of water and life.  Thousands of millions of years ago, this area was created by a volcanic eruption, sinking the ground and then sending ash over the entire area.  Over time the ash, soil and water formed clay and then about 500 million year ago the rain began to erode the clay creating these pinnacles and peaks with the diversity of shapes, colors, and sizes that creates the landscape.  

Yellow Mounds in Badlands National Park

Big Horn sheep

Just outside the park is a prairie homestead that remains from its 1909 origin by Edgar and Alice Brown who came from Nebraska to claim a 160 acre homestead from the government for $18.00 and a guarantee of ownership if they could sustain themselves for five years with a crop and farm animals.  The left side of the house in this picture is what they built and lived in originally for the first 15 years.  The rest of the house was added later along with a root cellar, barn, and eventually a garage for their model A.

Garage for car on left side and barn for animals on right

This was a hard life that many did not survive and had to give up and go back home.  Mr. Brown had said, “It’s the government betting 160 acres against $18.00 that you will not be able to make it.”  But Mr. and Mrs. Brown did survive until 1936 when the home and 160 acres was rented to a bachelor who lived there until 1949.  Where were you living in 1949?  I’ll bet it didn’t have a dirt floor or sod walls.

Inside the home with dirt floor behind paper wall is bedroom

Bedroom behind the paper wall

Root Cellar

MG giving some attention to the goats on the property

We were both surprised to hear that this area shared in the history of gold mining and then tungsten and finally lithium. Just outside the Mount Rushmore location are two towns established because of the mines that are once again connected by the railroad although now, it’s cargo is tourists and not minerals.  Yesterday we were two of those tourists being transported back to the time when steam engines rolled up the 800 feet above sea level to get from Keystone to Hill City.

Refurbished steam engine and cars

Real Conductor collecting our tickets

Wildlife along the tracks  through the Black Hills of South Dakota

Of course, we didn’t have to ride in closed box cars but had very comfortable passenger cars complete with padded seats and conductors.  These passenger cars dated back to the early 1900’s, acquired 100 years later and refurbished for tourist use.

Later in the afternoon we ventured to the Crazy Horse Memorial curious about why it was taking so long when Rushmore was completed in 14 years.  After all, its just another mountain carving, right?

Actually being there and reading and hearing the story changed our opinions dramatically.  This is the story of a family’s mission not just a sculpture.  Korczak Ziolkowski was orphaned at age one and subjected to harsh treatment at multiple foster homes and became a self-taught sculptor who was asked to work with Borgham on the Rushmore mountain project.  He became recognized as a great talent at the 1939 World’s Fair and was contacted by Chief Henry Standing Bear to recognize the Native American people in the Black Hills in the same way, Rushmore recognized the American Presidents.  Korczak was 31 years old when he accepted the project depicting Crazy Horse, a true Lakota warrior and hero.  According to some material we read, prior to the 1800’s there were somewhere between 60-80 millions Native American Indians in the lower 48 and Canada.

Over the years these people were forced to change their culture and adopt the ways of the ‘white man’, give up their lands and customs.  Korczak didn’t just accept the project of sculpting Crazy Horse but set about establishing a Foundation that has a mission to protect and preserve the culture, tradition, and living heritage of the North American Indians through education with the establishment of the Indian University of North America and Medical Center, in addition to erecting the sculpture.

In the early days, he did all the work himself.  After creating a 1/32 scale model of his sculpture, he began the arduous work of climbing up and down the mountain to blast and drill away the unused rock.  Over the years, his wife and 10 children all became a part of his mission and today his children and grandchildren are all a integral part of the Foundation.  Korczak actually turned down a $1 million grant from the government because he was afraid their intervention would alter the mission.

Today, the face is completed and you can see the outstretched arm and beginnings of the horse’s head, but the University and Medical Center are active and working entities.  We were told by the volunteer at the Visitors’ Center that the sculpture would not be done in our children’s lifetime, but hopefully, the education and health portion of the mission will thrive long after the statue is done.

Sunday afternoon was a good day to drive north to see the water falls and Spearfish Canyon Byway.  This deep canyon is flanked by steep vertical rock walls peppered with evergreen trees, probably a rock climber’s dream and a coward’s (like me) nightmare. 

As we drove, we noticed quite a few freshly downed trees close to the highway and even some tree tops with the telltale signs of being snapped off like you would see with a tornado.  We wondered if that hail storm we experienced on Thursday could have caused the damage, but never got an answer.

Bridal Veil Falls

Spearfish Falls

Spearfish Creek

After Shoshone Falls, the Bridal Veil and Spearfish Falls were nice but not dramatic.  There were interpretive signs down the walkway to the Spearfish Falls with two things of note.  One talked about tiny holes we had seen in the bark of the Aspen trees on the path down to the base.  These are made by the Red-napped Sapsucker which are birds that make these tiny holes releasing the sap.  Then when insects get caught in the sap, the birds come back and eat them.  Creation is a marvel!

Holes in tree made by Red-napped Sapsuckers

Sitting on the front porch of Spearfish Lodge after our little hike to see falls.  A great view of the canyon

Finally, there was a quote from an unknown author that needs to be repeated.  “Water cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”

We ended our trek with a brief visit to Sturgis, just 20 miles away from Spearfish.  As expected, this town is all things motorcycle.

We left Casper, with all our bills paid and clothes washed, in time to experience a really significant hail storm in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Of course, we have experienced hail storms just like you have but the difference is there were still piles of the frozen slush lingering two to three hours after the storm passed by.  This is an example of what we saw and this was in Downtown Rapid City around 6:30 p.m. when the storm hit around 3.

Downtown  calls itself the Presidential City because they have secured private funding to erect bronze statutes of each of the 42 Presidents of the U.S. on street corners.  I wanted to take my picture with my personal favorite, since reading his biography, John Adams.

Downtown Rapid City, SD  (note the debris on street after hail storm)

The statute of 43, Barak Obama, is scheduled to be added in Fall 2018.

We started out on Friday morning for Custer State Park for an all day exploration of the grounds.  There are many beautiful National Parks in the U.S. that are worth exploring, but don’t overlook the State Parks and especially this one.

Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park

It comes complete with camping sites, lodges, restaurants and resident herds of bison, burros, elk, and other wildlife you expect to see in mountain and forest terrain.

It all started when Lewis and Clark explored this area after the Jefferson purchase from France.  Later, George Custer mapped the area as one of his military assignments.  It was obvious this was beautiful land that needed to be protected and in 1912 it became a State Forest and then a State Park in 1919.  In 1914 the bison herd was begun with 36 animals purchased for the park and now that herd is maintained at 1,300 to 1,400 head based on the ability of the land to sustain them.  Unlike Yellowstone where no intervention is used with their herd, Custer State Park has an annual roundup where new calves are vaccinated, each animal is checked for disease, and excess bison (more than the grassland can sustain) are auctioned.  You can see the difference when you get up close.  They do look healthier.

Bison laying right by the road

I won’t make a big deal out of the fact that every restaurant in the area has bison or buffalo on the menu (at least I never heard of a named bison).

In addition to the bison, we got an up close and personal look at some of the burros in the park.  They were originally introduced to carry visitors to the Black Hills and released into the wild when they were no longer needed.  This young colt is proof they are thriving in the wild.

Burros like  to get right into the windows of the cars.  Looking for food 

We also got a glimpse of Mule Deer and Prairie Dogs.

Along the Park road, there are narrow one-car tunnels that make the winding road even more interesting.  I have to give credit to Jim driving these narrow winding roads with care and skill.  It seems to me without his skill, we might not make it home.

One of the last of the tunnels was a beautiful shot of Mount Rushmore and that’s where we headed.

Although we have seen this before, it never gets old for me.  The artistic accomplishment is magnificent when you consider the artist took a mountain peak and transformed it into the masterpiece depicting four of our Presidents significant to this area.

Sitting in amphitheater waiting for the program at night

At dark, they begin a patriotic show culminating in retiring the flag using veterans in the audience and lighting the sculpture.  Moving to say the least.