Me and my new best friend from Custer State Park!
Technically we're on our way back to Florida. We left the Upper Peninsula of Michigan very early Wednesday morning. The most direct driving route would have been simply to make our way to I-75 and point the Silver Bullet south. In a couple of days we'd be back in the sunshine state. Even though Florida is our current "home base", the journey isn't ending. After some time in Florida we'll be making our way towards California for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
So we're on our way back to Florida by way of Sioux Falls and Hill City, South Dakota and Denver. So far our journey back to the sunshine state has been quite snowy. About an hour out of Munising the evidence of a fresh snowfall began to show on the ground and trees. It continued as we made our way south towards Green Bay (it's rare one gets to drive south to Green Bay) and then across Wisconsin. The accumulation seemed heaviest in Minnesota, especially near St. Paul. I learned later that St. Paul had actually had around 6 inches of snow earlier. As we made our way into South Dakota there was less snow and even a little bit of sunshine. We reached Sioux Falls, our destination for the night, around 4:00 PM. It had been a long travel day but we wanted to check out Falls Park in the downtown area.
Falls Park is a 120 acre public park through which the Big Sioux River flows. As the river runs through the park the water cascades down numerous waterfalls of various sizes that have been carved in the natural rock. There are a number of trails and observation decks, each providing different views as the close to 7,500 gallons per second make their way downstream. Even though the sun was occasionally peaking out, it was quite chilly so we didn't stay too long. We were impressed with what we saw of both Falls Park and the city of Sioux Falls.
The Arc of Dreams Sculpture over the Big Sioux River in downtown. The gap in the sculpture represents the leap of faith required to turn dreams into reality.
Day One of our drive towards Denver we enjoyed seeing the snow on the ground. Driving from Sioux Falls to Hill City we were a part of the action. It snowed pretty much the entire day, although thankfully not enough to impact the drive or the activities we had planned along the way.
Hill City is a very small town located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It's about 30 miles southwest of Rapid City and centrally located to a number of amazing places to visit in this area. Nearby is Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial and much more. We had visited this area previously and stayed in Rapid City. We found it to be an interesting city that we'd like to visit again, but that will have to be somewhere down the line.
We had an ambitious "things to do" list for the day. Thanks to an early start we were able to get all three in and make it to the hotel before sunset. First up was Badlands National Park which is conveniently located just a few miles off I-90 between Sioux Falls and Rapid City. Badlands is nearly a quarter million acres in size and is known for it's unique geological features that were a few million years in the making. The National Park Service describes it as "the land of stone and light". For our visit it could have been described as "the land of stone, not much light and a lot of snow". The snow enhanced the large buttes and valleys that have been carved by wind and water erosion and a whole lot of time. The heavy snow had closed the Badlands Loop Road at one of the higher passes so we had to exit the park through the entrance we had used (Northeast Entrance). No problem, the scenery was spectacular both directions.
We made a quick stop at the Wall Drug Store in the town of Wall because that's what all travelers through the area do. The drug store is actually a collection of stores and restaurants under one roof. Yes, the drug store that started it all back in 1931 is still open. It's quirky and fun to spend a little time at Wall Drugs. You won't be alone, it attracts over two million visitors per year!
Fudge is medicinal, isn't it?
From Wall it was on to Custer State Park. The park was named after Lt. George Armstrong Custer who was famously killed in the battle of Little Big Horn (which is actually in Montana). The Civilian Conservation Corps built miles of roads through the park in the 1930's. It now has several lodges, campgrounds, lakes, hiking trails and more. It is also known for it's abundant wildlife including a herd of over 1,500 buffalo that roam freely in the park. The Wildlife Loop Drive through the park was amazing even though the buffalo had decided to freely roam away from the drive while we were there. We did get up close and personal with the "begging burros", enjoyed watching a coyote try, with no luck, to catch a prairie dog not paying attention, numerous deer and turkey. As much as the wildlife was a treat, just the drive itself was enjoyable as it passed through both prairie land and snow covered pines.
Custer State Park
We finished our day at Mount Rushmore. Thankfully the "cancel culture" hasn't taken this spectacular monument honoring Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt down. The sculpture which was designed by Gutzon Borglum took over fourteen years to build. The 60 foot faces of these four early leaders are inspirational to see as they look out over the Black Hills, although I did detect a little sense of bewilderment on their faces as if they were wondering "what the heck is going on these days".
Next up we will be driving to Denver. We'll be leaving the Silver Bullet at an airport hotel and flying back to Florida for the next few weeks. I'm sure she'll enjoy the rest before heading on westward.
