Badlands

We spent an afternoon driving through the Badlands. It was HOT! The Jeep's temperature guage got up to 100 degrees at one point! Whew!

The grasshoppers were everywhere! And the prairie dogs that we say were adorable. (They reminded me a bit of our bunny Poly. --Chubby little things that kind of bounce when they run, leaving their plump rump to bob in the air behind them.)

Sylvan Lake

One of the things Jeremy got me for my birthday last month was a pink fishing pole. Sorry, fishing rod. (Our friend Bryan gets offended when you call it a fishing pole.--It's a rod.) Jeremy and I brought our fishing gear with us to the Black Hills. We spent our last morning in the Black Hills fishing at Sylvan Lake. It was BEAUTIFUL!! But, the fishing wasn't so hot. Jeremy had to start by stringing the line on my rod and attacking a hook, etc. One lost lure and bobber later, we discovered that the line on my pole wasn't so great. Jeremy must have spent at least 30 minutes trying to get my rod working. While he did that, I fished with his rod. Hardly a bit and definitely no fish! Bummer. Despite the poor fishing, it was still fun. And, the lake was gorgeous!!

Jewel Cave

These pictures just don't do Jewel Cave justice. It was a fun experience. The cave is big, and they are discovering more and more of it each day.

We also were able to experience total darkness. I mean, TOTAL darkness. It can be a scarey thing, but it gave me new perspective to the verses in the Bible that talk about being in the darkness, like I John 2:11.

But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Custer State Park

Jeremy and I were total tourists and decided to drive the Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park and even pulled over for some lunch along the trail. We saw lots of wild animals and got an up-close encounter. We about got the back end of our Jeep as well as our bikes smashed by a buffalo. I heard the moo/farting noise of a buffalo behind us and turned to see a large buffalo coming straight towards the back of our Jeep. Jeremy was quick enough to drive to the other end of the parking lot to get out of the way. Whew!

We also took some side roads and found a very tempting mud puddle to drive through. We got the Jeep covered in mud and dust. I, or course, ended up with a sun burn from having the front top of the Jeep off all day. It was a blast!!

Jiffy Pop

Jeremy took the following pictures.

I asked him to document my attempt at making Jiffy Pop. I was so excited to see the silver tin raise and get big while the corn popped inside. I was a little worried about cooking over a fire.

While the popcorn looked ok when I opened the container, the bottom kernels were black and burnt. Therefore, the entire batch of popcorn tasted AWFUL! Darn! (By the way, I ened up burning at least one item per meal.)

Spearfish

We spent a day hiking at Spearfish Canyon. It is a beautiful area, which made for some great hiking. It made Jeremy and I realize how out of shape we have gotten--especially after doing the 76 trail. Whew!

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse is a sculpture they have been working on for many decades. When Jeremy was last at this monument in the early 1990s, they had yet to complete the face. They have since done that and are starting work on the horse's face. When this is completed, it will be much larger than Mt. Rushmore.

Needles Highway

Needles Highway is a scenic highway through the state park. It takes you through the needles in the Black Hills. The road is extremely curvy (as you can tell from the GPS device in the first picture). It was beautiful and breath-taking.

(It's a Jeep thing.)

The Eye of the Needle.

Mt. Rushmore

Yep, it looks just like any postcard or picture in a history book. The nice thing about Mt. Rushmore was that you can get pretty close to the base of the monument. It was a nice little stroll (or as they say out here, it was "strenuous" due to the number of stairs.)

The cool thing was that pretty much anywhere you go in the Mt. Rushmore state park, you can see the monument. Even through carved tunnels, etc. It was neat to see it from so many different angles.

Presidents Park

This was along the side of the road, next to a gas station. I think it was an ad for the Presidents Park that was later on down the road. But, it was fun to see.

I took these pictures for our friend Joe (who is currently bunny sitting Pascal and Poly--thank you, Joe!!) He's not really a JFK fan, but the picture turned out so wonderfully, that I couldn't resist. The lighting was wonderful, as you can tell.

Mitchell, South Dakota

The Corn Palace.

Not a whole lot to see, but it is a place you have to stop when in the area. The outsides of this building are decorated with various types of corn.

Sioux Falls-Sculpture Walk

One of our first stops on our road trip was to see Jeremy's grandparents in Sioux Falls. While there, one of the things we did was go on a Sculpture Walk throughout downtown Sioux Falls.