Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Road Trip: South Dakota

Today we finished our time in the Black Hills of South Dakota and drove across the state to Sioux Falls, stopping at both natural and unnatural highlights along the way. The natural stops where Sylvan Lake, in Custer State Park near our campground. What an incredible spot - you can climb the huge boulders out in the middle of the lake, and then cool off afterwards with a swim in a pristine mountain lake.

After stopping there we continued east to the mother of all roadside attractions - Wall Drug. We had a blast in this land-o-kitsch. Truly, you have to visit this place to believe it, but be prepared to leave a hunk of cash behind. A couple bucks here, a couple there, and before you know it your wallet is much lighter.

Next we moved on to Badlands National Park. What a beautiful area! If I had it to do over, I'd make sure to hit this area early in the day so we could do a hike before it got too hot. Also, pictures of the formations would be much better with morning or evening shadows. The pic above is from one of the many overlook areas along the loop road through the badlands.

We had a few more adventures in some wild places, but you'll have to check out my waymarks in the next month to see them. Tomorrow we cross Minnesota and camp on the bluffs of the Mississippi River. I'll try to post to the blog in a couple of days when we get to the Chicago area.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ah Wall Drug. Several waymarking opportunities there I would think.

I was there in the 80's. Interesting place. Might even have some photos but have no idea where they would be.

Looking forward to seeing it again through your waymarks.