Sturgis, SD and the Black Hills

     This has been a great area to spend some time. There is so much to see and do that you must pick and choose what is important to you.  We spent  week here last year, and really didn’t see anything we saw last year.  It is a great vacation area.  We moved over to Sturgis once the rally finished to say hi to our friends that manage the park.  We also met up with one of our travelling couples, Mike and Shirley.  It has been fun catching up since we haven’t seen them since Quartzite.

With our geocaching we found this cemetery with Civil War graves.  Very well taken care of and interesting.  Of course we were geocaching…

     Also along the way we discovered we were close to the geographical center of the United States.  With the addition of Hawaii, and Alaska,  the center moved from Lawrence Kansas to Belle Fourche, SD.  Never new this existed.  Guess who is in the middle!!

     This is just one of the fun things to do here. 

Another day we went to Lead, SD where there is a gold mine one can get tours.  This day though they were have a school fair and we were unable to get close enough to get tour tickets. but they have a great park here, where there is a huge display of mining equipment.  This mine is one of the deepest mines in the US.  It was closed in 2002, but the park tour was pretty nice.  And a nice hike in the morning.
     Once the rally is finished, Sturgis starts closing up.  The Easy Rider is one of the best restaurants in the city.  Here we are just outside.
Tomorrow we start heading to Goshen for the rally.  We will stop back at Lake Sakakawea over Labor Day and then head through Minnesota, and Michigan.  Till the next time.

Wind Cave National Park Caverns

On Friday we headed over to Hill city, SD to the Wind Cave NP.  It includes the third largest underground Caverns in the world, and is noted for its boxwork.  Jewel NM is not too far away and is the 2nd largest.
This Cavern has very little moisture, and a lot of calcite which forms this boxwork on its walls and ceilings.   One can also see popcorn, and frostwork This outside opening is the original that was found in 1890 by Alvin McDonald, when he was not quite 18 years old as he followed the wind into these caverns with only a candle and a role of string.  The cave is named because of the wind that blows from this hole to the point it will blow your hat off, and at other times it will suck it in due to the changes in barometric pressure.  There are many tunnels yet to be explored.  It is like a piece of swiss cheese if you can imagine!
On the surface, the park includes over 28,000 acres of prairie land, where the buffalo have been preserved, and roam free, as well as other kind of animals.
On the way home, there was a thunderstorm with hail.  The temperature dropped 30 degrees in a matter of minutes. But a beautiful rainbow appeared, and it was double.  Might be hard to see on the picture, but I had never seen this….a nice ending to an interesting day.

Good Bye ND, Hello SD

For the last week or so, we have been hanging out around Pick city at Lake Sakakawea COE Park.  There were many sites to see, as well as doing a little geocaching. 

    As we drove through North Dakota, there were huge fields of Sunflowers.  They produce a vast amount of sunflowers seeds, oil, canola oil, and wheat here.

Over in Washburn, ND, there is a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.  Since we have been following the Missouri river, it showed the travels of these adventurers.  There was an old fort where they spent the winter around 1805.

Another  day we went west to Beulah, ND to the Coal Mine, the Coal fired Electric Company, and to the Great Plains Synfuels plant.  We spent the day touring.  It was an eye opener to see how coal is being used, and made into electricity and other by products.  We have since found out that in the late 1980’s, Rollie’s cousin, Mark West,  was the one who started this plant…..

WE will be coming back to this area over labor day, and hope to get a chance to take our friends on the tour.

Now we are off to South Dakota.  We stopped at Hermosa for two nights to visit friends from Kerrville.  Yesterday we headed to Keystone where some of the bikers from the Sturgis Rally were hanging out.   Here is a peak of Biker Week..

Now off to more adventures…..

Theodore Roosevelt NP, Medora, ND

    Here are a few pictures from The NP here in Medora.  This park is part of the great plains, and definitely different from Glacier NP.

It is in the 90’s here, although the nights are cool.  We are staying at Buffalo Gap Campground which is part of the National Forestry.  It was a great find off of Exit 18, and the price was right. 

     Today we did the 26 mile scenic loop which is really a great view of the park. There are also places to stop, and walk some of the trails as well.  Of course we met up with a herd of bison, and they were NOT intimidated by us at all. 

     Medora is the number one vacation spot for North Dakotans.  The Pitch Fork restaurant, and musical are a must to see if you come to this area.  We had never heard of this place, but it was a great stop for us.

  We have just arrived in Downstream COE at Lake Sakawea.  We will explore here for a few days, and see the area….
     I am trying to moveover to Wordpress so if you get this twice…sorry…