South Dakota Part 2

We were just as active on the second half of our time in South Dakota as we were on the first.  On Thursday we stayed in camp and did a bunch of needed chores and work and then we proceeded into downtown Sturgis to check out the local culture.  As some of you probably know, Sturgis is the location of the famous annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally where motorcycle enthusiasts from all over the country converge during the first week of August.  Jason and I are not that into motorcycles, but we have friends who are, and even a couple of friends who rode from Oregon to Sturgis to go to the rally two years ago.  So, we were curious about the town has been running this rally for 74 years.

We scoured the internet and came up with a list of half a dozen or so bars (or saloons as they seem to be called here!) that were supposed to be the best (at least during the rally).

The Knuckle

We went first to the Knuckle Saloon.  It was interesting because it is also a little mini museum of antiques and the surrounding area.  I thought it had a pretty cool vibe in there - plus we discovered a local microbrew - Crow Peak which is brewed in Spearfish. I really like the Canyon Cream Ale and Jason liked the 11th hour IPA and the Pile O' Dirt Porter. Plus, the cans were absolutely beautiful!  We also had some amazing Buffalo Blue Beef Tips as our first round of food for the night.

One-Eyed Jack's Saloon

Our second stop was more of a dive bar called the Oasis Fireside. From there we moved onto One-Eyed Jack's Saloon, which was both of our favorite spot - although clearly not a regular for the folks that live in Sturgis - we were the only ones inside!  It was huge with quite the assortment of stuffed animals on the walls.  Also some very well done murals were in each room giving them a different theme.

Other saloons we visited

We also went to Easyriders (which felt a lot like being inside a Chili's or something - not a lot of local culture) and from there to Sidehack's Saloon (which was having their weekly biker night).  All in all, we had a fun time exploring downtown and the various saloons we made it too.  We really enjoyed how there weren't too many people there, and I seriously can't quite imagine the chaos that it must be like when the rally is going on.

On Friday (and the Fourth of July) we left early to head down to Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Mount Rushmore Selfie!!

The memorial is amazing - they have done a great job making it accessible for everyone and the exhibits were very interesting.

Row of flags and Mount Rushmore

I really enjoyed taking the short hike that takes you up close and personal (like, if you ever wanted to stare up a president's nostril, here is your chance!).  Since we were there fairly early it wasn't very crowded yet.

We actually waited in line to get this picture up George Washington's nose.  Worth it?

By the time we were done with our short "hike" president reenactors had just come out and were taking pictures.  It was pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to be at such a patriotic place on the Fourth of July AND to get our picture taken with President Lincoln AND George Washington, all with a great shot of the sculptures in the background!!  

George Washington and Abraham Lincoln! 

By the time we left the memorial, it was starting to get really crazy. The line of cars just waiting to get in stretched far beyond what I could see - once again, so glad we got there early! Then we drove the short drive to Crazy Horse Memorial.

Crazy Horse Memorial

So, this is a huge rock sculpture that memorializes Crazy Horse.  It will be HUGE when it is completely finished - like 10 times bigger than Mount Rushmore or something like that. It is being completely built by donations, gifts, and entrance fees (which were crazy expensive - $11 per PERSON vs the $11 per entire carload at Mt. Rushmore). 

What the memorial will eventually look like when completed

They were doing a special blast for the Fourth of July, but we left early - which turned out to be a good thing because, again, as we were leaving, there was a LONG line of cars trying to get in, and no real parking spots left.

"The Fighting Stallions" 

Something about this place didn't set right with me for some reason. I walked away feeling like I had been scammed somehow. The food at the restaurant that we had for lunch was not good. At all.  I am glad that we went since we were right next to it, but I definitely get the hype behind it.

After Crazy Horse, we drove out to Jewel Cave to try to take in a tour - but apparently since it was a holiday weekend, they were super busy and we would have had to wait over 2 hours to take a tour. We weren't all that interested in sitting around, especially since we had some grocery shopping to do and a 90 minute car ride back to our camp, so we scrapped the cave tour.

Badlands Selfie!

On our last full day in South Dakota, we drove out to Badlands National Park to check it out and take in a hike.

So many different colors here!

We had heard about Notch Trail and depending on which description you read was either going to be very difficult (or even impossible!!) or super easy.  Based on our current level of fitness, we figured it would be somewhat of a challenge. 

Hiking Notch Trail

The hike is not very long and a lot of it is fairly flat.  Then, you come up to this "ladder" that you have to scale to get up to the upper level of the hills. Going up was not that difficult, but going down was a whole different situation. 

Climbing the ladder

Once at the top, you hike along a very narrow path hugging the cliff for a bit until it levels back out and you continue your hike in a canyon.  

You are rewarded at the end of a stunning view of the park and surrounding areas.

Made it to the end!

The hike was amazing - I am so glad we did it. It was quite hot and that little bit of a climb and some of the scrambling you have to do to get over some rocks was somewhat difficult, but the views were awesome and hiking through the canyons was like being on another planet. I have never seen rock quite like this before.

Amazing

After getting to the end, we had to make our way back and down the ladder again.  Luckily for us we only had one couple waiting to come up for us, so we didn't create too much of a log jam.  The bigger issue was that somehow I pulled a muscle in my left quad coming down this ladder. The steps were not evenly spaced and I think that I over reached for one of the steps.  After a couple of days I am finally getting better, but it was fairly annoying to have to hobble around everywhere! 

And this is how you hurt yourself, climbing down a ladder!

The Badlands were very pretty. My camera once again doesn't bring out all the subtle colors. There were some places that looked almost rainbow-like in the layers of color. 

Wall Drug Store

On the way back to camp, we stopped at a "famous" tourist trap - Wall Drug.  I had been seeing signs along the freeway for this place for hundreds of miles as we drove from the Tetons to here.  I figured we had to check it out since we were literally going through Wall to get back home. So, we went in....and almost immediately back out. This place is HUGE and is filled to the brim with crap. Between the amount of people and how close all the shelves of tourist trinkets (and all kinds of other crazy items) it started to really freak me out.  I don't do well in places like that - makes me super anxious.  I am pretty sure that I didn't hurt Jason's feelings when I told him I was done! I guess there are all sorts of different rooms with all kinds of random stuff in that may or may not be better than the parts we saw, but that is one place I personally don't ever need to go to again! 

All in all I really loved the parts of South Dakota we saw. I was surprised at how much I liked it - I really felt at home in the Black Hills. I could definitely see going back - there is definitely enough to keep us busy for a really long time!