August 31, 2006 - Wall, SD - Anyone traveling in this region sooner rather than later hears about Wall Drug. So we decided to drive the 90 or so miles one way to visit this Mecca and tribute to pure tourism. Wall Drug started as a legitimate drug store in 1931 by Ted Hustead and his wife Dorothy. It became a big deal all from the idea of giving away free ice water. Now it is still a drug store but that is only a small part of the business. They have western art, t-shirts, stuffed animals, black hills gold jewelry and it takes up the entire downtown area. You can buy just about anything from polished rocks to shampoo and still get free ice water and a nickel cup of coffee. We saw more different license plates at this one location than anywhere else on our trip and that included Mt. Rushmore. If you want to read more on this off the wall place just visit www.walldrug.com. The history section is really quite interesting.

August 30, 2006 - Custer, SD - Today was sort of a down day for us. We decided to stick close to home and just do a couple of things here in Custer. One was going to be to try a bowl of buffalo chili at one of the local restaurants, but, just our luck, they were out by the time we got there. We will try another day. The other thing was to go to the National Museum of Woodcarving. This was a very unique museum and houses a collection of animated wood scene entirely carved and animated by Dr. Harvey Niblack. He hand carved all the characters (mostly caricatures) and made all the motors that are involved in the scenes. Dr. Niblack was a chiropractor in Denver but retired in his early 40s to pursue his love of woodcarving. Apparently, this paid off as he helped Walt Disney design and animate Disneyland. These were truly amazing works and I cannot imagine working on something this detailed but we all know that I am not artistic. There was one farm scene where the cows tailed moved, the outhouse door opened and the person thumbed his nose at the person waiting, a person was butchering a side of beef and someone was sitting playing a banjo. WOW!

August 29, 2006 - Custer Area, SD - Today we did a little work which took us to the Sturgis. The drive from Custer to Deadwood is still in the Black Hills.  Once you pass Deadwood you are going downhill and into rolling prairie.  Well, we can now say we have been to Sturgis.. but without the half million motorcycles.  It is really not much of a town. I guess the motorcycle rally is what really makes it.  Again, the weather was perfect...high about 70! Really enjoying the weather up here.

When we got back we were treated to watching a herd of deer graze all around the park.  As it was getting dark, we counted about 11 scattered just outside our RV.  What a wonderful, lovely place this is!

August 28, 2006 - Custer, SD - Today we went to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. This memorial was started in 1949 and is still not finished today. I personally don't think it will be finished in my lifetime or maybe my children's! The Lakota Indians wanted a memorial like Mt. Rushmore to commemorate one of their heroes and they picked Crazy Horse. There are several differences in the carving of this mountain statue versus Mt. Rushmore.  The most notable are the size (much larger) and that it is being carved in 3-D. The sculptor who was chosen for this feat never had any formal training but was obviously quite talented. If you would like to read more about Korczak Ziolkowski just click link - http://www.crazyhorse.org/story/korczak.shtml.

We also visited Mt. Rushmore for the evening lighting ceremony. This quite patriotic and touching. We learned several things about the flag that we did not know and watched a good film highlighting how and why the faces were selected. The mountain is spectacular during the day but is really amazing at night with darkness everywhere and spotlights illuminating the carvings. If you are ever in this area both of these are a must see!

August 27, 2006 – Custer, SD - Today is much like yesterday and we are still enjoying it. Today is also a red letter day as I have ditched the boot and am now walking in real shoes!!!  I still limp slightly but life is getting back to normal and we are very, very happy about that.

August 26, 2006 – Custer, SD - Today is a truly glorious day because it is raining and cool. I know you will think I am crazy, but we have not seen rain except for a sprinkle or two since we left Houston and we certainly have not had temperatures in the 40s and 50s recently. It was a very slow, soft rain – much needed here and everywhere I think. We have opened the windows and enjoyed weather much different than the 100s and 90s we have had for the past months. I was also having problems staying connected to the wi-fi here at the park, and since we don’t have cell service here where we are, we can’t use our internet connection that we have with Sprint. So we decided to go back to Rapid City and buy a range expander.  While at Best Buy, I saw that the camera I have been wanting was down to a reasonable price…so Jerry bought me my birthday present. Yes, I know my birthday was in July, but I certainly couldn’t take many pictures while laid up with my ankle now could I??? This camera has many more feature than my other one and a much higher zoom so you should expect better pictures…or at least I hope.

August 25, 2006 – Rapid City and Custer, SD - Today we went into Rapid City to do shopping and some work. You see Jerry and I now have a job. It is the best job ever.  All we do is stop at vet offices, pet groomers or pet hotels and ask them to display brochures for a pet insurance company. We have not had anyone say no yet and the company pays us $10 for every one we drop off. Since we are traveling anyway it is easy money and sort of fun too.  I knew Jerry would find a way to right off the miles on taxes!

On the way back we came through Custer State Park. I don’t know if all the State Parks in South Dakota are as nice as this one, but if they are, South Dakota does State Parks the right way. There are several lodges, multiple camping areas, and a theater where they perform every night of the week, lakes and wildlife like you wouldn’t believe. We decided to take the Wildlife Loop Road and here we saw pronghorn antelope…now that’s a sight you don’t see everyday. Well, we sort of got lost and happened to have the GPS with us. It routed us through some of the park roads that are well maintained gravel roads. We are so very glad this happened because we saw an amazing sight.  There was a heard of antelope and one lone coyote. The coyote was trying to get one of the antelope out of the herd. Instead, the entire herd charged the coyote, circled around him, and then took off further down the field. When we finally drove off, the herd was quietly grazing with one buck watching the coyote who was still hanging out in the field but at a much greater distance than before.

August 24, 2006 – Custer, SD - We arrived in South Dakota yesterday and what a beautiful place this is. Tall pines surround the campground and wild turkey and deer visit the campsites almost everyday. I know that I have said this about other places but I really do believe this is the prettiest yet. Jerry and I have both commented that we think we could spend a lot of time in this area or even live here (at least in the summer) 

Today, we decided to go for a drive on a couple of the scenic byways in the area. We will be exploring them again while we are here making sure we take a picnic lunch with us the next time.

The first part of the drive was on the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. This is also called the Iron Mountain Rd and is marked by narrow stone one-way tunnels and “pigtail” bridges. I cannot describe the pigtail bridges very well so if you want to really see what one looks like click this link http://www.byways.org/browse/byways.php/2459/photos.html?display_mode=single&pub_id=10681&order_no=3 .

The other part of this route takes you on the Needles Scenic Byway that is named for the rock formations that shoot up like needles. There is a very narrow stone tunnel on this road as well called the Needles Eye.  There are walls of stone leading into and out of the tunnel and it is very narrow. While we were taking pictures of it, here comes a tour bus through it. Boy, what a sight! We are going back with the video camera just to capture what a spectacular feat this is.  

August 22, 2006 - Sheridan, WY - We left Billings this morning and just drove a couple of hours.  Stopped and visited the Custer Battleground on the way.  It was a wonderful exhibit.

August 20, 2006 - Billings, MT - We went to a George Winston concert this afternoon.  He was wonderful and the prices were really excellent.

August 18, 2006 - Billings, MT - We went to the Dr.'s today and received great news.  Doc said return the wheel chair and slowly start walking.  We will leave Billings Monday morning.  We will spend Monday night in Wyoming and drive to Mt. Rushmore Tuesday.

August 12, 2006 - Billings, MT - Finally cooled off here.  High today is suppose to be in the mid 70's.  Opened up the homestead and it really feels good.

August 11, 2006 - Billings, MT - Surprise, Surprise!  We decided to go to the movies this afternoon and when we went to pay they told us it was free because Kathy was in a wheelchair.  That's a first for us.

August 7, 2006 - Billings, MT - We went to the doctor this afternoon and he said Kathy is healing very good.  We are to come back on the 18th and she will be able to put some weight on the foot and we will be back on the road.  Now we have to find something to do for the next 10 days.

 August 1, 2006 - Billings, MT - We got brave today and decided to go  to the zoo.  This was the first day in awhile it wasn't going to be 95+.  We arrived and paid our money and went in.  Remember Kathy is still in a wheelchair.  The first thing to see is a botanical garden near the entrance.  Since it was cool this morning all the volunteers were out pruning and weeding.  It was a nice area.  There was a ramp down into the area.  On the way out one of the women warned us about the bridge going into the animal section.  When we got there it was an arched Japanese style bridge.  We made it to the top of the bridge to discover that the other side was longer going down and much steeper.  We decided in order to keep from having a run away wheel chair it would be better to back down the bridge.  

The zoo is nice in that there are no cages.  All the animals are living in a very nice environment.  What we discovered was only a small portion of the paths were paved.  The rest were soft powdery dirt.  Pushing a wheel chair around became exciting.  You have to realize we saw all 10 animals and 2 birds in about an hour.  We also stopped and had some lemonade.  As we approached the bridge leaving the park there was a sign posted on this side that read, "CAUTION - Bridge is not friendly to wheelchairs".  Of course this was the only entrance and exit.

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