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Okay, so here is a little run down of what my vacation was all about.
I went out to the Black Hills of South Dakota with my mom and dad.
I was the official driver and we took my Caddy. With fingers crossed. lol... The good news there? The Caddy made it out and back through the heat and hills and survived. :) My mom loved the ride. She said it road like a very comfortable sofa. I said, Great someone else gets to drive home and I will relax in the back seat. :p
We spent the first night at Al's Oasis, which is just on the West side of the Missouri River. It originally started out as a really good restuarant know for 5 cent coffee and homemade pie. Now there are several hotels, gas stations and even a car dealership right there.
The next day we stopped at Wall, SD. and had breakfast at the world famous Wall Drug Store (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/SDWALdrug.html). They have the most amusing billboards all the way along the highways in SD. They have been advertised and written about all over the globe. Their original attraction was free ice water for travels. It has now grown into a block long store/restuarants.
From there we headed to Custer, SD. We drove up to Sturgis, where the big motorcycle rally is held, and from there headed South through the Hills towards Custer. We stopped in Deadwood (http://www.deadwood.org/) to visit Mt. Moriah. It is the cemetary where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried. The town has changed drastically ever since the legalised gambling again. It use to be a small tourist town that celebrated their Western heritage, and now it is nothing but hotels and casinos. From there we made our way to Custer and settled into our hotel. That evening I went up to see Crazy Horse Memorial (http://www.crazyhorse.org/). They have a music/laser light show now at night. It was pretty cool.
Day three was started with my dad and I heading down to Hot Springs, SD. to see the Mammoth dig (http://www.mammothsite.com/) there. The first time we went there is was nothing more than a big tent out in a field. Now it is a big beautiful building. I can't say I noticed any real change in the dig from the last time I was there. From there we drove back towards Custer and went through Custer State Park (http://www.sdgfp.info/parks/Regions/Custer/Index.htm) to take the Wildlife Loop to see some wildlife. What we saw: pronghorn antelope, deer, wild turkeys, prairie dogs, wild burros, and two lone buffalos. Couldn't tell you the last time I was out there that I saw a herd of buffalo. They must be getting smart and hiding from the tourists. :p From there we took the Needles Highway (http://plbdesign.com/SD/needle/index.shtml) back to Custer. This is a long, winding, and narrow road that goes up through some granite formations. There are three one lane tunnels on the road. It really gets fun when you meet a big camper or bus coming from the other direction. There is no way I would drive something like that through there. The "winding" road also includes a couple of hairpin turns too. Later that day, I went back up to Crazy Horse and took the bus ride down to the base of the mountain. For those of you not familiar with Crazy Horse it is a mountain carving like Mount Rushmore, but on a much larger scale. The whole Mount Rushmore carving would fit into just the head of Chief Crazy Horse.
Okay, so this isn't getting to a "little" run down. So I think I will break for now, and continue tomorrow. I hope all the links I added work, and you can get an idea of what I am talking about.
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