7/21 Mount Rushmore

I almost skipped seeing this, but then I figured that since I was so close, I would go.  Nice view from the road driving in.

So which amusement theme park does this remind you of?

In spite of the crowds and commercialism, it is an impressive monument.  There was a nice museum display and video you could see. 

Most importantly, they did have big vehicle parking, and escorted you in a golf cart to a specific place to park.  (Most parking is in a parking structure.)  Entrance see of $11 was a little steep, I thought, especially since my senior pass did not work here. 

7/19 Custer State Park Wildife

I took a jeep ride today because I wanted to see more wildlife, and it is too difficult to drive my RV and look for animals.  In addition, there are many dirt roads that are easily driveable by 4-wheel drive cars but not by a large motorhome.  So, it was worth the price to get a tour.

There are 1,000 buffalo in this state park, not counting new calves.   They round them up each year and sell whatever number they believe is in excess of what can survive the winter on the available grass. These are sold, not for the meat, but for breeding stock to other state parks and national organizations.  Prices for adults are $3,000 to $4,000 for each animal, so no one is going to eat these fellows. 

Here are a couple of calves following their mothers.  They are very young and still have their umbilical cords attached.  The one in the first photo was even having trouble walking.

 

The herd I saw was enormous.  On one side of the road was maybe 50 animals, but on the other side, just down a bit, was another 300-400 animals!  Here are about half of what we saw.

 

The bulls are fascinating because they are so huge.  Here is one who walked past our vehicle as we were parked.  How would you like to carry that head around all day?  He was about 6 feet away from us. 

 

Here is another bull checking out the females.  He and another bull were eyeing each other up and making low growling noises.  Unless it is breeding season, which it is now, the bulls stay apart from the herds of females and young.  Here is a video I posted on YouTube of this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsgP8S6KqaM&feature=youtu.be 

 

And to round things out, here are some pronghorn antelopes:

 

And a couple of prairie dogs:

 

7/17 Wind Cave, Black Hills, SD

It was a super-hot day today, so I enjoyed the cool cave air.  This is not Mammoth or Carlsbad, but it was an interesting cave.  No stalactites or stalagmites, but it has some interesting box formations.  It is also a complex cave that has had at least 140 miles of cave passages mapped, but these are nearly all very narrow crawling or stooping passages, not huge rooms.  The rock is limestone and very soft with many cracks, so water seeping down has made thousands of passages at many, many levels.

The original opening to the cave is very small, just big enough for a very skinny person.  Since most of the tour group did not qualify, we took the door and 300 steps down to the main level.

It is hard to see and even harder to photograph, but here are the box formations that were formed by water dripping through cracks in the ceiling.

And this is one of the wider passages.  Even though this area was fairly wide, you still had to watch your head in most of the narrower pathways.

7/17 The Mammoth Site

This is a non-profit organization that operates a long-term dig in a site where at least 61 mammoths have been discovered.  The land was sold at cost to create the non-profit after it was determined that this site, which was supposed to be a housing development, was a valuable archeological site.

Way back about 27,000 years ago, a sinkhole from a collapsed limestone cave filled up with water to create a pond with steep sides.  Mammoths, mostly the Columbian mammoths, slid down the sides to get a drink and then could not get out again.  This occurred actually over thousands of years as the pond eventually filled up with silt that covered the dead animals.  Eventually, it became a mudhole where mammoths and other animals used it to cool off, packing down the mud into the old sinkhole.

Eventually the soft limestone surrounding the mudhole weathered away, leaving the denser mud.  When a bulldozer started preparing the ground for development, mammoth bones and teeth were discovered.  Drill holes have determined that there are 65 feet of bones, while only the top 25 feet have been excavated.  Nearly all the bones have been left in place, so you can see the positions of the dead animals.  A building was built around the site to preserve it and allow research to continue with the University of South Dakota and volunteer groups.

It is really a neat place.  All of the bones are from 20-35 year-old males, with the assumption being that like elephants, the females and young were in herds and knew better than to drink from the pond.
Duh!

These next two photos show the most complete mammoth skeletons found.

On the wall, you can see the relative size of the various types of mammoths and modern elephants.

There is a small exhibit hall next door where they have reconstructed some of the mammoths and an example of a dwelling constructed entirely of mammoth bones and skin, as has been found  in northern Europe.

And finally, as I left, I noticed outside the sifting area where they put all of the dirt that has come from digging so they can sift it for tiny bones and plant material. 

I really enjoyed this place and bought a few booklets in the gift shop.  I don't mind buying things when the organization is non-profit.  Oh, and you can sign up for educational programs here, lasting from a day to a week or more! 

7/16 Custer State Park, Black Hills, SD

This is pretty country.  Nice drive in to Custer State Park across the plains, with a first glimpse of the mountains in the distance.

I really like state parks, and this one exemplifies why--beautiful scenery, widely spaced campsites, nearby visitor centers and things like bike trails and ranger talks.  This is my campground and the bike trail I took to the nearby visitor center.

And the best part of staying in a state park like this one is the opportunity to see wide open spaces and wildlife, like the antelope and buffalo I saw today.

These buffalo were conveniently grazing very close to a pull-off.  Luckily it was big enough for several cars and RVs because a lot of people had stopped to take photos.

I took some photos of wildflowers on my bike ride yesterday and on my drive today, but I need to identify them before I post them.  Stay tuned.

7/14 Rapid City, SD - Geology Museum, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

One nice thing about being able to travel slowly is to find excellent little local museums like this one.  It is on the third floor of the administration building of this college, which had a very pretty campus.  Parking was easy since I was there on a Sunday and during the summer, so the campus was mostly deserted. 

It is mostly a museum full of rock samples, but it also has quite a few interesting marine reptiles and dinosaurs.  Anyway it is easily worth an hour-and-a-half.  Kids would also find it interesting.  Here are some photos I took. 

This is a Mosasaurus Conodon, which was a type of marine lizard. Remember that in the Cretaceous, most of the middle of the North American Continent was a huge inland sea, so marine animals are common in South Dakota.

And check out the neck on this Styxosaurus Snowi, which the sign said was a species of Plesiosaur.

And here is a baby Plesiosaur, curled up as it was found.

And this is a

 

And this is a nest of dinosaur eggs. They had quite a few broken eggs besides this nest, so it was interesting to see the texture on the shells.

And here is an ancient Triceratops skull.

Check out this huge head of an armored fish!  Actually, this fish was found near Cleveland.  The sign said that Dunkleosteus was a gigantic fish which lived in the latter part of the Devonian ("Age of Fishes"). This predator could grow up to 33 feet long and weigh 4 tons. It belonged to the Arthodira or "joint-necked" fish, so-called because the plates of bone which sheathe the head were connected by a hinged joint with the boney armor of the chest (thorax). 

7/13 Wall,SD

OK, I know everyone makes fun of Wall, SD, because of the incredibly well-advertised tourist trap, Wall Drug. 

Well, it was a few degrees cooler here than in the Badlands down the road, so I came here for two nights.  The campground was not my favorite, but it was less than two blocks from downtown and Wall Drug.  I also happened to come on the weekend when the town was holding its reunion for all the people who lived here at one time or another--sort of a super-Homecoming.  There was a rodeo, which I skipped, but there was entertainment in a big tent and a parade. It was also a pleasant evening walk the first night I was there to wander around town after all the shops were closed for the night.

Next day was the parade.  I really like small town parades.  There were all the town rescue and fire trucks--a lot more than the average town would have because part were from the U.S. Forest Service to put out grass fires. 

Even the library staff did some very rough chair and reading drills!

And these kids had a pretty neat pony cart. The pony was pretty frisky and clearly needed Mom to keep him in control.

And there were horses.

And even the slightly elderly cavalry band was there.  They had to stop the parade soon after I took this photo because one of the trumpet players started to pass out from heat stroke in the 95 degree temps.  They found a doctor in the crowd and gave him ice water to cool him off.

By the way, this is the only parade I have ever been to where everyone was sitting or standing on only one side of the road--the shade side, of course!

Anyway, I went for breakfast at the Wall Drug Café and wandered around the shops.  Bought myself a new fanny pack and some little ones for each of my grandkids.