Badlands National Park and a couple Tourist Traps

We left Rapid City on Tuesday and drove the short distance to Wall, South Dakota.  After getting the RV set up in Sleepy Hollow Campground and a quick lunch, we headed out for a drive through the Badlands.

We stopped at the Big Badlands overlook for our first look at the unusual formations that just seem to rise out of nowhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Grandma was here back in 1957, and it’s hard to find the differences in the landscape, although we learned that the rocks are shrinking in height about 1 inch per year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at the Visitor Center to watch the video about the park, and then headed out on the Loop Road through the park.

These rock formations remind me of the sand castles we used to build on the beach!

There were a few areas where you could walk and climb on the rocks, but it was pretty hot and we weren’t feeling very energetic.

Besides, with these signs at every stop, we weren’t too anxious to go wandering around on the rocks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s hard to believe that this area had been settled at one time . . . but not difficult to see that it would have been a very harsh place to live!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The landscape is amazing and beautiful . . . but not very inviting!

Where do we go from here??!!

As we continued west on the Loop road, the colors in the landscape became more varied and prominent . . . especially the reds and yellows!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could see some storm clouds moving in, and rain falling in the distance!

We headed back into Wall, though, and the rain stayed south and never reached us . . .

After dinner back at the RV, we walked over to Wall Drug to see what all the hoopla was about.

We walked through all the shops, which mostly had all the same touristy stuff, and had some ice cream for dessert.

We saw the T-Rex in the “Backyard”, and Tom found a friend, too! 

 

I even got the boys to agree to pose on the Jack-a-lope!!

 

 

We had our fill of the tourist trap, so we headed back to the RV for the night.  We were going to get their homemade donuts for breakfast, but at $18/dozen we decided to pass on those!!

On Wednesday, we continued east on I-90 and stopped in Mitchell to visit the “one & only” Corn Palace.

The 2013 murals are still in place, although they have already removed all the borders and are starting to replace them with new grain.

These guys were working on the new borders around the murals.

the 2013 theme was Celebrations, and the murals depicted holiday celebrations (Halloween, Christmas, 4th of July),

as well as sporting events.

We went inside to watch the video on the history of the Corn Palace, and took the 5 minute tour.  The building has a “korn”session stand and gift shop, where we picked up a couple packs of Corn Palace microwave popcorn (haven’t tried them yet!). 

There are corn murals inside also, depicting the history of South Dakota,

and since these are protected from the elements, they only get changed about once per decade, rather than annually.

It’s really quite a’maze’ing how they create these murals from corn . . . like a giant paint by number!

We took a few “corny” pictures,

 

 

and then, since it was still fairly early, we decided to continue east and put a few more miles behind us before we stopped for the night. 

We made it to Sioux Falls, and spent the night in the Sam’s Club parking lot . . . much quieter than Walmart!

Campus Visit

Last fall, when Nicolas was taking a College and Career Planning class, he researched a bunch of engineering programs, and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology ended up in his Top 3.

I had forgotten about it being in Rapid City until last weekend, so when I remembered, we decided to stay an extra day and requested a campus visit for Monday.  We filled out the online request form, but weren’t sure if we were going to get an appointment.  We didn’t hear anything on Monday morning, but decided to go on over there and see if they could fit us in.

As we arrived on campus, we felt like we were back at home – they use the same M for their logo as the University of Michigan!

We walked into the admissions office, and Nicolas’ name was on a list of prospective students being welcomed to campus . . . so I guess they got our request!

We talked to the Admissions Secretary and she clarified which departments Nicolas was interested in visiting.  While she made the arrangements, we walked through the Geology Museum.

In addition to Engineering, the school has a very strong Science program, including geology and paleontology.  Much of the fossils in the Badlands have been discovered by students from the School of Mines.

Some of the discoveries are not as glamorous as others!

We were still in the Museum when one of the girls from the Admissions Office came to get us for Nicolas’ first appointment.  He had appointments with Professors from Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, the University Provost, and a campus tour.

Everyone we met with was very nice, and the atmosphere of the small university was really apparent.  Both of the professors were very generous with their time, showing us around and answering everybody’s questions.  It was very clear that they want the incoming students to be confident in the college they choose, and they want every student to be successful.

We toured the campus with a Student Ambassador and two other families.

We saw the dorms, the Student Center, the cafeteria and Snack Shop, and the fitness center and pool.  The school has been around for over 125 years, but most of the buildings, especially the student buildings, are all new.

One unique aspect of this school is something they call CAMP – Center of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing and Production.  This is an extracurricular activity that all students are encouraged to join (at no cost to the student) beginning right in the Freshman year.

There are multiple teams – including Formula I, Baja, Aero, High Mileage Vehicle, Electric Snowmobile, and several others – each team works as a Corporation and includes students from all areas of the University.

They work on their project vehicle all year, and at the end of the year they compete against other colleges from around the country.  Several of their teams have done quite well in these competitions, proving to themselves and others that this small school from South Dakota can go up against any major engineering school and at least hold their own, or even win!

In fact, they are particularly proud of the times they have out-performed the University of Michigan!

We ended up spending over 4 hours on our campus visit, and we were all really comfortable with the campus and impressed with the school.  I think a small school like this would be a really good choice for Nicolas, and he likes the Black Hills area!  It’s definitely one he’ll keep on the list!

Custer State Park

Over the course of several days, we explored almost every inch of Custer State Park.

Along the Needles Highway we travelled through the higher elevations of the park,

through giant boulders,

 

and through tunnels.

The landscape was breath-taking!

 

 

Also on the Needles Highway is the Sylvan Lake Recreation Area.  There’s a campground, lodge, store & café, and even a wedding facility!

The lake is really beautiful!

We stopped in the store for a few minutes, and Bryce found a hat he liked, 

 

 

 

 

 

then we decided to walk the 1 mile loop around the lake to stretch our legs.  The path started out as an easy gravel path along the edge of the lake,

 

and we thought this little bridge was going to take us to the other side.  It ended at the big boulder though, so there was nowhere for us to go unless we were prepared to climb the rock (which we weren’t!)!

We made our way around behind the rocks, 

and continued our hike up and over the boulders.

Nicolas found a narrow crevice with a waterfall in it, and squeezed in to touch the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we continued our hike, the sky began to darken and we heard thunder, so we picked up the pace a little bit!

 

As reached the day use area on the far side of the lake, it was starting to clear out, and Nicolas found a window in the rock!

We arrived safely back at the parking lot, and it never did rain . . .

As we exited the park on the west boundary, we could see the needles area in the distance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Needles Highway, we continued to the Wildlife Loop.  We weren’t seeing much wildlife,

except for a few prairie dogs,

and a small herd of pronghorn.

As we made our way up the east side of the Wildlife Loop, we saw the resident donkeys (not native to the area, but left over from when they were used for trail rides),

 

but we still hadn’t seen any sign of the buffalo herd.

As we reached the end of the Wildlife Loop, we finally found them, and it looked like the entire herd was together!

They were just strolling down the road, without a care in the world, but careful to keep the calves nearby.

This little guy was all on his own, though!

Then we saw this guy . . . he must be the great grand daddy of them all!

Out at the Ranger Station, there was a huge gathering of buffalo . . . and nobody taking pictures at the entrance sign . . . I wonder why!

Our last drive took us gown the Iron Mountain Road, home of the famous pigtail curves,

and 4 tunnels,

each of which is centered on Mt. Rushmore.

The drive was exhilarating, especially at dusk with all the deer around!

The view from the top was amazing,

and Bryce found some more rocks to climb on!

Custer State Park is HUGE . . . with lots of great recreational areas, and about 20 different campgrounds – we saw several that we probably could have even fit our RV into!  We could definitely see why it is the “Jewel of South Dakota”!