5/29 - 6/6 - Wyoming to South Dakota/Badlands

 5/29 - Cheyenne seemed pretty quiet and not all that interesting other than the metal sculptures and painted cowboy boots, which I did enjoy.  There are also a lot of placards around that were interesting about the railroad and the old days.  It seems that so many towns burned down at least once over the years, so there isn't much left of the original structures.

parking for carriages  haha

After downtown, we went to Lions Park and walked around.  It was perfect in the shade with the breeze as it was pretty hot in the sun.  I let Zoe drink a bit of water, but then realized how murky it was, so didn't do that again.  I did end up letting her drink from a cleaner looking stream that ran into the lake.  I get kinda nervous about her drinking bad water, though there was a lab retrieving and swimming, so it was probably ok.

Then I stayed at a Boondockers Welcome with nice views that almost look fake.  Very nice and helpful hosts.  It seems that even the places that allow multiple campers, I'm the only one, so I'm not meeting many people when I do these things.  I'm feeling a bit lonely in my travels and am very much looking forward to seeing my family and NE friends soon!  I can't believe that I'll be in Ithaca for the wedding in less than a month!  It's great when I visit with people, but maybe because I move so much and do these HH and BW, I'm not really meeting other travelers.  

Though I don't appreciate Canada Geese on Blue Mountain Lake, the babies are so cute!

for some reason this view looks fake to me.  The properties look too pristine to be real.  Maybe it's just me.  

you can see the mountains in the distance to the right

5/30 - 

Fort Laramie barracks

Jail cells.  Hard to see, but only 3' W x 5' H x 5' L for the offenders.  Solitary confinement.  Sounds like torture to me and this is for their own men.

I like that the excess water drains into the dog water bowl

original steel bridge from when???

After Fort Laramie, I headed for the campground and nearby was Register Cliff and the Oregon Trail ruts.  It is amazing to think about all the people who endured so much and so many ultimately died trying to find a better life.  Can you imagine what they went through?  As my sister, Jennifer, pointed out, people from other countries are doing similar treks today trying to get a better life in another country.  They are risking their lives and paying lots of money with the hopes of being able to settle in a new country with fewer conflicts than where they came from.

There are about 700 names (and probably many new ones) from people who had passed by here.  There were also petroglyphs, but I wasn't able to see them.  Maybe worn away and/or written over.

Swallow nests

We stopped to cool Zoe off in the river.

It looks like handprints/fingers in the stone

I wonder if where I drew the red line is from the people and/or horses walking along side the wagons and creating a separate rut

Camped at a small campground and gold course for $17 with tax and had the best shower!  Private full bathroom with hot water and lots of pressure (but not too much!).  I'm so glad I asked the woman when I checked in where is best to shower and she told me this one, which was attached to the office.  It's always good to ask!  We had a site on the water with some shade, but you know who had to find the sun.  I ended up having to move the van because branches were brushing the top of the van and I knew it would keep me up.  Still in WY.

5/31 - Went to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD.  They have enclosed an entire area inside a building where there was a pool where animals went to drink and once in the pool, they couldn't get out due to slippery shale.  They have found remains, and continue to excavate, of several mammoths as well as other animals.  

After the Mammoth Site we went onto Wind Caves National Park to camp for the night.  Of course I didn't have reservations, so had to search for a site.  I found a great site (I parked sideways to fit and to have a woods view from my bench), but once walking around I wished I had picked a site in the sun (it was cool).  Oh, well.  We went for a hike and got close to some bison (on the other side of the fence), but to do that I realized I was walking through lots of poison ivy in shorts!  (I did not get a rash, thankfully!)

Woods and grass.  Ahhh.  

6/1 - Driving/Hiking in Wind Cave

These guys don't look all that friendly.  I'm really not sure why some people think they can approach and get selfies with these grumps.  😆

I was told I would be hiking through a canyon...  After the canyons I've been in, this doesn't feel like a canyon...

Prairie dog towns.  OMG, they are so cute!!  and noisy!  

bison bedding/rolling area

wild (?) burro.  Very tame!

These burros were clearly saying, "No thank you" to interactions.  😄

I think this tub makes for an extended sleeping area for miss copilot

Custer State park.  Center Lake

center lake

first use of hammock.  First trees at campsite!!!

morning light

6/2 - On our trek north, we stopped for a walk around this "lake".  It was a good break, but I couldn't let Zoe drink from it since it was so filled with green stuff....

The algae (or whatever it is) looks gross, but this duck family were feasting on it!

Custer, SD.  We just drove through due to it being very hot.

I really had 0 interest in visiting Mount Rushmore.  I only went because I was right there, but I did find it interesting.  I hadn't thought about how they might have managed to sculpt 4 heads in stone at such a height.  Apparently, the sculptor was knowledgeable about using dynamite and could do much of the rough "sculpting" with blasting.  It's hard to imagine!  The sculptor had help from lots of many (400+) stone workers.

Mount Rushmore - Washington's profile

thunder cloud

I was so happy to be able to meet up with Heather and her father on their way moving her from Brooklyn to Billings, MT.  We had talked about me visiting in Billings, but the timing wasn't right and it was pretty far out of my way without much for interesting sights to see.  When we were chatting on the phone she mentioned they would be staying in Deadwood, which was only about 1.5 hours from where I planned to be, so it worked out for us to meet up!  Yay!  I hadn't seen her since October and who knows when I'll see her again.  Maybe I'll pass through Billings on my next trip east.

At Deadwood KOA you can rent these.  Very cute!

Nice view.  So hilly around here.  Driving is up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, down a hill.  Beautiful country in the Black Hills of SD

Heather offered Zoe Winston's bed and then covered her up.  She's such a prima Donna, but at here age, she deserves it!

6/3 - Deadwood, SD.  Not too interesting.  Lots of gambling, so if that's your thing, then it's fun.  I found the nearby town of Lead (pronounced like leed) more appealing.

Mine in Lead, SD

Such a beautiful drive with all the green.  I guess they've had a ton of rain, so everything is very lush.

Arrived at the Badlands from the Southwest around 4:30 and the visitor center was closed, so off I went into the park.  Thankfully I had chatted with some people who showed me their map of the Badlands and told me about the potholes on the road where I was going.  There were many, but thankfully, since there weren't many people on the road, it was easy to go around them.  Plus I was following someone who sussed out the potholes and made it a lot easier on me.  I drove the Sage Creek road which was mostly dirt, but in decent shape.  I went faster to smooth out some of the washboards...  I skipped the prairie dog town because it was really crowded and I had seen so many before and it was getting late and I needed to find a place to park for the night.  In hindsight I guess it was good that I bypassed it because apparently there is some plague there that can pass to humans.  

The Badlands was called bad lands by the Lakota people because of the rugged terrain, lack of water and extreme temperatures.  I can see that!

First view of the badlands.  Long dirt road from the south west entrance, but in pretty good condition

Many bison!

Bison wandering back and forth across the road.  Good for closeup photos.  

It amazes me that people get up close to these huge beasts.  They don't look the least bit friendly to me!

View from camping spot on BLM land

6/4 - Today was my day for the main tour of the Badlands.  It's pretty cool.  Is it the coolest/prettiest I've seen?  No, but still very interesting, awesome, and beautiful.  Again, I feel fortunate that they've had so much rain, so it was green for contrast.  

Sunrise over the Badlands (from my window of course!)

I love this coloring of the hills in the foreground.

I decided to stay at the BLM land again as we didn't have a great sunset or sunrise the night before, so I was hoping to capture that.  So, after driving through the park to the main entrance/visitor center, we turned around and went back the way we came.  It's about 25 miles, so not too bad and it can be nice to reverse direction to see things at a different time of day and from the opposite direction.  I felt really fortunate because I saw a bunch of people looking the "wrong" direction (away from the canyons and into a green field) at an overlook and saw some big horn sheep.  There was a mama and baby and daddy(?) who were hanging out and then they decided they needed to cross the road to get to the get to the canyon.  I cannot imagine why they would leave the grassy area and cross the road right where there were all these people and cars were, but they did.  At one point they got within probably 25 feet of me and the baby was so cute!  

It was cool to watch them walk along the ridges and to see how sure footed they are.  Even the baby.

Back at the camp spot.  It's a busy place!!!  This area goes along the rim for several (5?) miles and there are RVs parked all along.  

tired pup

Sun going down, but not much for color facing east

I was in the van when I heard a noise outside and peeked out and this cow was right there.  She was all alone, separated from a big herd across the field.  Not sure what she was doing there, but at this grass for a bit before departing.

6/5 - Sunrise

A tad windy

So, it's time to really start my trek east. This had been my plan - to head to the Badlands and go east from there, so today is the day!

Since I was driving through Wall, I decided to stop here.  It's a tourist destination for sure and I basically just quickly walked around and decided been here, done that.

Outdoor area of the Wall Drug

This is still part of the Wall Drug.

My drive felt like the windows screen saver for about 200 miles.  All that beautiful green with blue sky and clouds.  It was just so beautiful!

I usually try not to drive on the highway if I can help it, but decided to here and I'm so glad I did (aside from the wind).  I drove about 40 miles off the highway to get to the campground and the roads stink!  The van is very stiff and I feel all the bumps.  

I decided to book another campground (Snake Creek Recreation area) as this was on the Missouri river.  It's not as easy to find free camping as you get farther east and it's nice to be by water!  The water in the shower was barely lukewarm.  Just warm enough that I wasn't freezing, but definitely not enjoyable.  I just wish they'd provide warm water and have it coin operated if they're trying to deter people from taking long showers.  

I can't get over how much I'm loving the green.  I really did love the desert for the diversity and geology, but I didn't realize while I was there how much I missed green grass and green trees.  I did realize how much I did not enjoy the dirt/dust though!  Though I haven't experienced many bugs yet, that's often a negative that comes with the green.  There are pros and cons to EVERYTHING in life!!!

Not a bad site!

More lawn so Zoe could eat out of her Kong Wobbler

6/6 - Last day in South Dakota, which I enjoyed much more than I expected.  

This beach is part of the campground/recreation area.  Look at the boat ramp on the left.  I'd say the water is a little low!

I walked around the town of Sioux falls a bit and saw some cool artwork around town, but ended up going to the actual Sioux Falls.  I like to visit towns, but this one wasn't particularly interesting.  I think day of week/time of day probably makes a big difference.  And since I'm usually not staying in one spot for long, I get there when I get there.  

Sioux Falls falls.  😀

Stayed at Big Sioux Recreation area and thought my site was going to be on the water like the last spot, but this was close to a creek, but I couldn't see it.  It was fine and had a wonderful shower!  The shower made up for the last bad one.  

I like that this hammock only takes a few minutes to set up, so it's perfect for lazy old me!

I'm signing off for this post finally (I've not had good enough internet to get my photos loaded, so this post is almost 2 weeks late) as I'll be moving into Minnesota in the morning.