Amy

In between visiting the two mountainous monuments we detoured into Custer State Park, on hairpin-turn roads and through mountain tunnels. We stopped for lunch and a hike around Sylvan Lake; the mild-mannered walkway around the lake abruptly changes to up-and-down rocky once you go beyond the bridge, but it's a lovely walk for all that. And the Needles formations are pretty nifty, as well. There were also a number of unscheduled wildlife stops, as Custer has a large number of elk and bison.

After Mt. Rushmore, we set off for the Badlands: miles upon miles of undulating green fields later, we came to our cabins in Interior, SD, right in the Badlands park itself. They're, um, definitely cabins, but it was great to be right there at sunset, even though I was photographing through the rain. Seen in the blazing sun the next day, the Badlands are fascinating formations, some of which look like giant sand castles that have been hit by a careless wave. There are some walks, which we took, but there's also a fair amount of driving from one spot to the other. The land includes some genuine original prairie, which has its own beauty, but I could definitely see why some people would lose their sanity living in the midst of that wind: it's absolutely mesmerizing to watch the wind ripple in the grass for a little while, but 50mph winds all day? That's a bit much. The flowers are lovely, though.

We ended up in Wall, South Dakota, which was just, well, a bit too much Americana for our German friends. The Wounded Knee Museum there is earnest and sobering, although it looks like a sideshow from the outside, but there is an enormous amount of reading necessary, and it tends to bog down if more than one small group is in there. Wounded Knee itself is about 90 miles away.

Wall Drug is, of course, an enlarged souvenir shop with mediocre ice cream, but it's still kinda fun for about five minutes.

Our final night's lodging was back in Rapid City at the Big Sky Lodge, a cute friendly motel-type place up on top of a hill overlooking the city. We went to the local Colonial House for dinner: home-cookin' at its finest, including what's called the "Baby" chocolate cake: for seven bucks, you get a complete little cake that's definitely enough to share and good enough that I'd like some right now! (And I usually don't care for restaurant chocolate cakes.)

The Airport Shuttle took me to Rapid City Airport the next morning, and it was farewell to the sunshine and 60's of the West, and home to what happened to be about 90 and humid. Ah, well, can't have everything!

hetismij

I saw your link over in the Lounge and just had to follow it. This is an area of the US we haven't (yet) visited so I have enjoyed reading your report, plus it is always good to hear what Americans make of their own country.
I'll look at the photos when I have more time.

owlwoman

Just came back from a very similar trip, but started in Billings, Mt, drove the Beartooth Highway through the Lamar Valley into Yellowstone and stayed in the park for two days. It's beautiful country out there and we saw our share of elk, bison, sheep, etc. Did the driving ourselves, 1300 miles in 8 days, glad to be back in a city with public transportation.

Very nice report, loved and agree with a lot of your observations.

Birdie

I'm glad the trip worked out for you. I remember when you were planning it. Your photos are lovely.

InSandy

It was fun to read your report, refreshing and informative.

starrs

Oh, I'm so glad to have found your trip report. I remember when you were trying to find a solution to your "handicap". It sounds like a great trip - and a small group in a van sounds MUCH better than the more usual tour bus!

Glad you finally got out west

Amy

Thanks, starrs! I really appreciate the help you and many others gave me with this, and I did have a great trip. (Boy, am I missing that 60-70 degree blue-sky weather!) It was marvelous to soak in all of that beautiful scenery and wildlife.

(I have to admit, though, to a little envy when I got a postcard from one of my former students; he just finished visiting Laos on what he called his "last bastions of socialism" tour. Ah, well, I can go country-hopping next year! Although I kinda want to visit Bryce Canyon now...)

ElendilPickle

Great trip report, Amy! I'm so glad you found a way to make it work.

Lee Ann

edeevee

Loved your report, especially your take on Crazy Horse v Mount Rushmore. My family recently made a quick trip out to the region. Because our time was so short we had to choose one monument over the other and opted for Rushmore. I really wanted to do both though, as I think the two compliment (insult?) each other. While we couldn't make that work, our route to the Black Hills did take us through the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation which almost served the same purpose. At least it sparked some interesting dinner conversation about the nature and responsibilities of conquerors and the conquered. Thanks for posting this.

Myer

Amy,

I'm really glad you got to do this trip.

More importantly you enjoyed it!!!

Amy

Thanks, Myer!

Travel Dream West really fills a niche, I think, and I was happy that I found them. I'd still like to go to Gardiner someday and stay for a week or so, taking the tours out of there and researching a bit in the library, but this went to the places that I most wanted to see without the logistics of a big bus tour...plus there was the added bonus of my German tour mates!