Take a walk on the wild side: Day 2

We survived the night! After spending the night in the Bates Motel, we hit the road early and headed through The Badlands via the State Scenic Byway. The terrain was so different than what we were used to and the weather was beautiful. Our first stop, “Big Badlands Overlook.” It was breathtaking and the girls had fun imagining what it would have been like to be on the Oregon Trail trying to cover terrain this rugged and barren.

From there we hiked “Door Trail” and discovered what The Badlands had to offer. We had so much fun climbing, sliding, and exploring. After, we checked out “Window Trail” and followed a ranger for a discovery walk and learned all about the erosion of the land and the formation. Grace was front and center, while the little girls were far more interested in the wildlife. They loved the bunnies and the mountain goats, but were scared when someone said they had just seen a rattlesnake on the path we were hiking on. After that, they decided to agree with the Lakota people, who originally named the land, ‘Mako Sica’ meaning ‘land bad.’

With a stop off at “Yellow Mounds Overlook” we saw a complete change of scenery and then ended our Badlands visit watching some big horn sheep navigate the steep sides of the rocks with ease. If only there was time to explore the entire 244,000 acres that we didn’t have time to explore. J

From the Badlands we stopped off in Wall at Wall Drug, the world’s largest drug store. Known for its free ice water (as a way to pull in visitors during the 1930s) it’s a definite must see. He girls had fun playing in “the backyard” with the jumping jets, T-rex, and stagecoach and of course we had to stop at the donut factory to try their famous donuts which were delicious!

Then it was off to Mt. Rushmore. We learned a lot about Gutzon Borglum and his quest between 1927-1941 to carve the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln into the side of a granite mountain. We hiked the presidential trail learning about each president and how they were selected for the monument. We also learned about the trials and tribulations encountered while under construction. There were multiple tributes to our service men and women as well, and we headed back again at night to see the lighting ceremony honoring these men and women who serve. The evening ended with everyone singing the Star Spangled Banner as well as watching them light the monument. It was incredible.

From Mt. Rushmore we headed to Custer. On our way we stopped off at Crazy Horse to experience another monument dedicated to the spirit of Crazy Horse and to his people. His left hand is pointing to where his lands are as his, “lands are where my dead lie buried. I have never been to this area, but Mark visited when he was younger and said he was surprised that in 20+ years that it has been since he last visited, it hadn’t changed hardly at all. On our evening trip back from Rushmore, we saw it all lit up as well. It is quite beautiful on the night horizon.

After our afternoon visits to the monuments we checked in at our hotel and went for a quick swim. With a few waterslides, the girls had a fun time splashing around and enjoying some down time. They worked up quite the appetite, so we headed downtown to check out “PizzaWorks” a yummy establishment that was highly recommended by friends. With a wonderful outdoor patio, the ambiance was as incredible as the food.

With full tummies we decided to take a drive through Custer State Park since it was almost dusk to see if we could find any buffalo on the Wildlife Loop. Big horn sheep, mountain goats, pronghorns, deer, prairie dogs, burros and tons of buffalo…the girls noses were glued to their windows. They loved when the burros stuck their heads in our van and when the buffalo decided to use our front bumper as a scratching post. It was an incredible ride.

From Wildlife Loop we decided to drive Iron Mountain Road to check out all of the one-lane tunnels, Pigtail Bridge, and head back to the lighting of Mt. Rushmore. We also stopped at the Purple Pie Place (a must) for a little ice cream treat.