LATEST TRICKS: The Natural Beauty of South Dakota

Custer, South Dakota
Thursday, September 23, 2010

We were excited to start a new chapter in our journey today as we joined our friends Bruce and Kimberly for breakfast in the cozy Great Room of our motel.  The flames were glowing in the fireplace and the coffee and hot cinnamon rolls smelled soooo good.

We shared a relaxing breakfast near the fireplace, viewing the mountain waterfall outside.

It was damp and rainy so we thought that going subterranean at Jewel Cave National Monument would be a good plan.  We took the in-depth (no pun intended) tour of Jewel Cave with Ranger Bethann Herman.  She was an excellent guide offering detailed information with a delightful sense of humor.

We were surprised to learn that it is the second longest cave system in the world.  Only 152 miles have been mapped so far; they believe that it may be much larger.

The site was a subterranean wonderland.  The caverns are unlike any other we have visited.  We are accustomed to “wet” caves filled with stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone and draperies.  Instead, the walls and ceilings of Jewel Cave are mostly dry and are covered with a thick crust of calcite crystals, boxwork and other filigree formations.  It definitely was a “jewel” to behold.

By the time we came back to the surface, the rain was gone and the sun was awaiting us.  So, we headed east to Custer State Park, eager to view its renowned natural beauty and wildlife.

We drove around beautiful Stockade Lake and then followed the Wildlife Loop Road through the park.

We were in awe of the wildlife that we encountered: pronghorn, white tail deer, prairie dogs, wild turkeys, incredibly friendly “begging” burros, and the pride of the park—a massive heard of free-ranging American Bison.

We were able to drive on unpaved roads among the buffalo as they headed across the prairie.  We watched and wove among them, marveling at their stoic magnificence, until the sun had set behind the mountains.  What an experience!

The four of us celebrated this exceptional day of natural wonders with a sublime dinner of pheasant, bison, and elk at the dining room of the historic State Game Lodge.  We were quickly learning that the animals of the prairie are honored in the west in many ways—conservation, respectful hunting, mounted display, and deliciously dining.

Back at the motel, we spent some time chatting around the hot tub, sharing our impressions of an incredible day.  
-- Ted and Laura, Bruce and Kimberly

LATEST TRICKS: Welcome Bruce and Kimberly

Wall, South Dakota
Wednesday, September 22, 2010

We started our day at the roadside legend, Wall Drug.  Famous since 1931 for serving $0.05 coffee and free ice water, Wall Drug is a fun-filled tourist trap.

We took a whirlwind tour of the complex which includes:
--  An indoor street of shops

-- A Frontier Town complete with classic Western arcade games, whimsical squirting water fountains, a horse-drawn wagon, a giant jackalope, and even an animatronics T-Rex!

-- A soda fountain and cafeteria-style restaurant

-- Travelers Chapel

-- Room after room of everything from Black Hills gold jewelry to chocolate fudge, and bobble-head elks to Frederic Remington bronze sculptures.

Our “must-haves” included a Wall Drug coffee mug and history booklet, magnets of the states we’ve visited so far, and a complimentary Wall Drug bumper sticker.  Of course, we had to partake of the free ice water which was indeed ice cold.  With espresso malts from the soda fountain and a buffalo burger from the restaurant, we headed westward once more across the Great Plains.

While we were exploring Wall Drugs, our friends from home—Bruce and Kimberly--were winging their way across the USA to join us for the next ten days of the trip.  Once we arrived at Rapid City Regional Airport, we had a mission: rearrange the van and clear out the back seat so Bruce and Kim won’t have to ride on the roof.  We wondered what airport security must have thought as we dragged bins, books, blankets and more out of the van and onto the pavement, scurried around a bit, and then stuffed it all back in again. 

Dressed in our matching “Cheese Days” shirts and cheese beads, with Ted in his cheese fez and Laura in her Viking hat (all from Wisconsin), we stood right next to the TSA entry/exit area awaiting our friends’ arrival.  We were so thrilled to see them when they came through the gate.  They probably wondered what they had gotten themselves into when they saw the pair of us!

It was such a happy reunion as we piled into the van and headed eastward to Badlands National Park.  The four of us were breathless as we drove through the vast expanse of brightly striped, sculpted sandstone buttes amid the grass prairies.  The colors of the sandstone changed dramatically as the sun dropped lower in the sky.  The beauty was both vibrant and stark.

After the Badlands, a stop back at Wall Drug seemed even more surreal than our morning visit.  But we didn’t want Bruce & Kim to miss this wacky attraction.  Then, the Red Rock Restaurant in Wall welcomed us with a homey atmosphere, great hospitality, and some tasty food including buffalo rib eye steak (that’s buffalo as in bison not spicy wing sauce).  Bruce and Ted tried Fat Tire Ale for the first time and were quite impressed.

We headed west once more to Custer, SD to check-in at the Holiday Inn Express.  This was not the average business-style chain hotel.  The décor was reflective of the area, particularly in the Great Room, which had a vaulted, timbered ceiling, log-style furnishings, a towering stone fireplace, and floor-to-ceiling windows framing the hills and waterfall behind the hotel. 

Welcome to the Black Hills of South Dakota!
-- Ted and Laura

LATEST TRICKS: Time Travel

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Hello cyber-travelers!  Starting with our next blog entry, you can embark on a bit of time travel.  As promised, we are going back in time to fill in all of those marvelous days of the trip that we did not blog about while on the road.  We will now bring you those days in sequence, starting with Wednesday, September 22nd.  Please watch for updates as we continue to add posts over the next few weeks.  We're glad that you are an ongoing part of the Old Dogs, New Tricks journey.

-- Ted and Laura