Waking up next to the highway again. One week/state down. The semi-trucks racing by don't seem to bother me any more. Though I spent every night "illegally" camped, thanks to LNT and common sense, I survived this time. Then, I hit the next hurdle.
My glorious plan of flying by the seat of my pants, guided only by visitor centers and weather quickly came to a halt thanks to the lack visitor center. Even though I had arrived along a well traveled route, it wasn't the main highway, 90. So, with a lack of official visitor center, I wandered to the first stop on my list, Jewel Cave, and hoped for the best.
What do you know?! I'm early. Guess I'm not waking up that early any more, eh? After some loitering (there weren't any signs saying I couldn't) the bathrooms and visitor center opened up, much to my bladders excitement. Inside (the visitor center) I asked for tips on what to do in the area, and an excited intern, Jess, gladly grabbed a map and went to town with a sharpie on all the places I should hit, the least of which being Jewel Cave. I figured why not, even as a super tourist place, it's still a cave, and I could go for a nice chill with all the heat.
A quick parking lot breakfast and a change of clothes, because with a year round temperature of 49 degrees, flip flops were a no go, and the tour commenced. Half way through the tour we learned that Jess's parents were in town and on that tour, fun fact.
Playing with the lighting and figuring out how to take low light, non-long exposure, photos was a great time. The great part was the content of the cave had a green glow to it, so all of my shots are almost as vivid as Yellowstone, but for completely different reasons. Tour concluded, I set off for the other super tourist area around, Mount Rushmore!
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Still part of the 4th of July vacation madness, there were tons of tourists (myself included), RV's, and traffic; but yet it was calm, organized and not nearly as stressful. The park is free to enter, but you have to pay for parking, heh. Once in, there is a beautiful display for all the people involved in the crafting of the monument. Also, a great lead up with all the flags of each state displayed along with their name, date of acceptance to the union and what number they were. Of course I got some shots of Colorado, how could I not?
Then, the peace de resistance, Mount Rushmore! Oh wow, was it beautiful. A quick google search will lend itself to millions of photos, but seeing it in person puts a whole new scale to it. Looming over the whole area, it was quite the site to see. I found a trail for the audio tour that gave a closer view of the faces and went for it, I had to make the most of that parking pass. With more views (and photos) the walk was nice, but part of it was the Artisan Shop. There, a scale model of what the mountain was supposed to be was on display as well as the models that Borglum and his associates used as reference while carving.
Finally, I decided it time to depart, sights set on Custer, and its State Park. What i didn't expect was what it would take to get there, an unimaginable road of terror, fun, and more views of Rushmore. The road twisting like a Pittsburgh street, splitting into single lanes to weave through the dense hills, stopping to pass through single lane tunnels, and a surrounding green that made it hard to keep my eyes on the winding roads. Frequent stops to capture more shots of Rushmore as well as get some photography tips from an expert doing the same helped break up the scenic drive.
Finally out, and now in to Custer State Park, I opted to skip it. The day was late, I felt as though I had done enough, and with the biggest attraction of the park being a scenic drive "to see the buffalo," I didn't want a repeat of Yellowstone. Cruising through to Custer was beautiful enough.
Arriving to Custer I again found the local visitor center to be greeted by the happiest person I've yet to see at one. He gave me countless information on the town, what to do, where to eat, free wifi, showers, water and great hikes in the surrounding Black Hills. But first, food, and the best place in town also happened to be voted as the best place in America for burgers, the Black Hills Burger and Bun Co.
I wasn't disappointed.
Though the wait exceeded 45 minutes at 730, my famished stomach loudly said no, opting for take out instead and enjoying it on the street as I people watched. Still not satisfied and feeling the long day deserved a treat with some work, I wandered down to Bitter Esters Brewhouse. A beautiful place with an atmosphere to match, it was cozy and clean, a great place to wind down. The bar tender graciously pointed me to the locally crafted brews on tap. I ran to grab my laptop to do some work, returning to a clean table with a beer sitting there, silently singing my name.
Working, not working, drinking and winding down, this felt like an insanely productive day, and only my first of many in South West South Dakota. The sun set, the bar and streets emptied out and my computer battery dead; it was time to leave and find a home for the night.
As always, you can see all the photos by visiting my Flickr account here
