South Dakota: The Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, and The Devil's Tower

August 15th

We left home for Atlanta at about 4:30 a.m. We were heading to the airport for a 2 week vacation to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. (It is SO hard to believe that we have already been married that long!) We had intended to go to Jackson Hole, WY and the Tetons for our Honeymoon, but had to change our Honeymoon last minute for my school requirements. So, we decided to plan a trip to the Tetons for our anniversary. As we looked into it, the trip grew from being a week long trip to the Tetons and Jackson Hole to a 2 week trip from Rapid City, SD to Jackson Hole, WY hitting several national parks along the way. We could have easily spent 2 weeks in each of these areas and not run out of things to do, but it was an amazing trip, and there is little to nothing that I would have changed about it.

We got into Rapid City shortly after lunch and by that time we were REALLY hungry. They don't feed you on the plane anymore. So, we went in search of a restaurant to eat lunch at, and we stumbled across Pauly's pizza and subs. It was really good. The look of it reminded me a lot of McAlister's Deli. Zack got a gyro and I got a buffalo Chicken wrap. They were both really good. They also had consoles at your table that allowed you to play a trivia game that was displayed on screens above the tables. Zack and I had fun doing that...although, we didn't know too many of the answers right off the top of our heads.

After lunch, we headed over to the Badlands. We quickly noticed the striking difference in the landscape in South Dakota vs here in Georgia. The trees and mountains were replaced by wide expanses of grass lands and there pastures had hundreds of bales of hay lying in them. It took us about an hour to drive from Rapid City to the Badlands, but well before you get there you see the haunting peaks jutting up out of the ground in shades of brown, red, and white. It is hard to explain exactly the way that they look. They are in their own way very beautiful, and yet harsh...We went to the visitor center and looked around before heading to some short hiking trails near the visitor center. We were able to climb on a lot of the mountains. I was surprised to find that they were not at all like the granite peaks seen in the Rockies. They were more like giant dried mud piles. They were very coarse to touch and they would crumble easily to the touch...makes it hard to believe that they are still there standing after taking years worth of beatings from wind and rain. There were people climb/scrambling up the and over and around these mountains like ants on an ant hill. The views would beautiful and seemingly desolate. However, we saw some Long Horned sheep while we were there and another couple that we met had seen prairie dogs. It is hard to imagine much life in those hills, but there is. We had not been there long when a rain storm came blowing in cause the rain to pelt down...coming at times in sheet of water. We got into our rental car and continued to drive around the park on the scenic drive.

We headed back toward Rapid City in the pouring rain. We called the Bed and Breakfast that we were going to be staying at to let them know that we would be a little late for check in, because we still had to get something to eat for dinner. They suggested a place about a mile from the bed and breakfast, Fireside Inn. We were not disappointed. They had 2 menus that you could order from a restaurant menu (basically gourmet dishes) and a lounge menu (hamburgers, etc). We ended up ordering off of the lounge menu, since neither of us thought that we were hungry enough to each eat one of the larger main menu items. Zack got a really good BBQ Beef sandwich and fries, while I had a hamburger with onion rings. We were REALLY full by the end of our meal.

We left dinner and headed to the Hisega Lodge Bed and Breakfast, our home for the next 2 days. We didn't get there until around 9:30p.m. So, I was surprised when one of the owners came out the the parking lot to help us carry in our bags. The first impression was that the room was small, but clean...and in the end, it was perfect, as we did not spend time there other than to sleep...and by the end, we hated to leave, because the owners felt like family!

August 16th

If there is one thing that Zack loves, it is breakfast...and, the Hisega Lodge did not disappoint. Our first morning, we had a DELICIOUS breakfast pizza with hash browns, artichokes, and capers. There were freshly cooked blueberry raspberry muffins, a fruit plate, and of course coffee and Orange Juice. Shelia, the owners assistant kept bringing Zack more food to eat. He had to have had 3-4 pieces of breakfast pizza and at least 2 muffins and a LOT of fruit before he finally pushed himself away from the table...they were amazed! :)

The other great thing about B&B's is that you get to meet other guests. We met several very nice couples over breakfast. Which was very enjoyable.

After Breakfast, we headed to Mount Rushmore. Zack and I initially thought, Mount Rushmore, we'll go see it, but we probably won't be there more that 30 minutes to an hour. I mean, just how long can you look at a bunch of men's heads carved into a mountain...but we used a tip that we learned at the Biltmore Mansion last year...get the audio tour. So, we purchased the audio tour and ended up staying there for about 3 or so hours...and we learned/experienced a lot more of Mount Rushmore than we would have otherwise. The Mountain itself was much more impressive than I had anticipated. There really is so much life in the faces. The sculptor was a master of his craft.

We left Mount Rushmore and headed down hwy 87 toward "The Needles" in Custer State Park. The drive was beautiful and it took us through several small tunnels...and by small, I do not necessarily mean length..I mean height and width. There was a $12 entrance fee to the park, but I think that in the end, it was more than worth it.


We decided to try to do 2 short hikes around the park since it was getting to be late in the day. The first was Little Devil's Tower. It was a 0.6 mile hike...no big deal right?! WRONG!! It was the LONGEST 0.6 mile trail that I have ever been on, and it was pretty much all up hill. The view at the top was worth it though! At the base of the mountain there was a check point for an adventure race called Primal Quest. We didn't really know anything about this race, but we passed one of the teams headed toward the check point as we headed up to the top of little devil's tower. Once on the top of little devil's tower, we saw another check point for the race, and at this time we were able to talk to one of the race workers. This Primal Quest race was a 10 day, 600 mile event for teams of 4. They had to do multiple sports from rafting to orienteering to rock climbing/repelling. The most impressive part of the race course that we witnessed was the cathedral spires (massive granite spires jutting majestically out of the ground). They had set up a series of climbs, zip lines, and repels between these spires. It was really cool to watch. It made me wish that I was in good enough shape and good enough at these adventure sports to be able to compete. We also could see Harney's Peak from the top of little Devil's Tower, which apparently is the tallest peak east of the Rockies. We sat atop Little Devil's Tower for a while just taking in the GORGEOUS view. Then we headed back down and went to another short hike "Cathedral Spires" it was 0.9 miles long and took you to the bases of the spires. This was interesting, because it gave you another vantage point at which to see the ropes set up for the race. Dusk was quickly coming though and so we couldn't stay too long. We headed back to the car and drove to Custer City for dinner. We ate at Cattleman's. The food was really good. I had a buffalo steak, baked potato, house salad and Raspberry Tea. Zack had an Elk steak with sweet potato and Cesar salad. We shared the meats so that we could each try them. They were both really good, but I think that I might have liked the flavor of the buffalo better than the Elk.


We left Custer and drove past the Crazy Horse memorial...well, actually drove into the crazy horse memorial park...we thought that we couldn't see it very well from the parking lot only to realize later that it wasn't that we couldn't see it, it was just that it was not really very far along and thus didn't look like too much.

August 17th

Monday morning there was a much smaller crowd at breakfast, but we really enjoyed getting to talk with the families/couples that were there. We even got a little time to talk with Carol, the owner of the Hisega Lodge. Breakfast was just as good as it was the first day. Carol had made apple, onion, cheddar tarts, which although sound like a weird combo, were actually really good. They also served a fruit and yogurt parfait and banana coffee cake.


We were sad to leave the Hisega Lodge, but we were excited to head to new places. We took a scenic drive from Hisega toward Glacier National Park. We first stopped in the town of Lead. This town has the richest and most productive gold mine in the history of the US. It was just shut down back in 2002 and apparently still contains a great deal of gold, but the corporation that owns it made a deal/promise that it would never be mined again. While in Lead, I went into an old Lutheran Church were a unknown 19 y.o. painter painted the scene of Jesus' ascention. We drove through Deadwood, but didn't stop.

We did however stop at the Vore Buffalo jump. Apparently Indian hunters would round up the buffalo and cause them to stampede off of a cliff. Killing enough buffalo for meat for the winter. There really was not very much to see there...apparently it is now some sort of archeological dig site.

After a brief stop at the Vore Buffalo Jump, we headed on to Devil's Tower. Neither Zack nor I had ever heard of this place before we left for our trip, but apparently it was the first national monument and was established by Roosevelt. It was so odd to see this massive natural structure jutting up into the sky surrounded by fields and grasses. At the base of the tower, there is a huge field filled with prairie dogs. My brother would have loved to be there taking pictures of the little guys. We took the 1.3 mile hike around the base of the tower. It has these giant geometrical sided, and it is a destination for a lot of rock climbers. We saw several attempting to climb it while we were there.


We left Devil's tower at around 3:30 -4:00. We stopped in Sheridan at a walmart to pick up food for our meals in Glacier and to grab dinner. We ate at Taco John's.

Then, we drove for a while longer and ended up stopping in Billings at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center. We would not recommend this hotel. First, the lady at the front desk was RUDE!!! Then, while the rooms were spacious and clean, the bed sounded like it had been wrapped in plastic or like you were crinkling paper every time that you moved. On top of that, at about 12:30 we were startled awake by someone coming barging into our room. Apparently, the lady at the front desk had given our room number and key to another couple...scary!! I made Zack place a chair in front of the door. Not that it would stop someone, but it might give us more time to react if need be!! Zack and I laughed at the irony that they had a sign out front that said voted #1 hotel in Billings....ummm, if they are number 1, I would hate to experience the others!!!