North Dakota Trip Conclusion

Our trip to North Dakota was awesome. In all we drove 3,230 miles in nine days. 853 miles on the last day. Quite a lot of driving in a short amount of time.. We drove through eight states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. Most importantly Jack has now been to North Dakota and has visited all 50 states. He is happy about that. The weather was perfect for almost the whole trip. There was only one day at the start of the trip of poor weather but after that it was sunny and pretty much cloudless the whole trip. We could not have asked for better weather.

The highlights of the trip were arriving in North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, and the Black Hills of South Dakota. It would be nice to spend more time in both the Theodore Roosevelt National Park area and the Black Hills area. There are a lot more things to do that we just did not have time to do. I would have liked to had time to do more hiking. The black hills of SD could be a vacation destination in itself. A two week trip would have been ideal.

All in all it was a successful trip and we are glad we went.


Now Jack is talking about a trip back to Yellow Stone National park....

Today we are cleaning up and recovering from all the driving. I will sort through the gazillion pictures we took. I will post any more interesting ones I find. This was my first attempt at blogging. I think it worked out ok.

Just curious who (if anyone) is viewing this blog?

Thanks for reading.


Dave

Here is one more picture of Jack and I in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

Day Nine - Sioux City IA - Iowa - Illinois - Indiana - Ohio - Home

We start out the final day of our trip in Sioux City Iowa. Had breakfast at the Fairfield Inn and then headed out. We get a little bit of a late start and we will lose an hour going from Central to Eastern time so it will be late by the time we get home. We take I 29 south to I 680 near Omaha to connect up with I 80. Not much to see in Iowa. Just lots of corn, corn and more corn. We don’t expect to see much on the trip home. Petrol is very cheap here. They must have some special tax incentives for the ethanol. The mid grade fuel is cheaper than the regular grade. We find a BP station and fill up for only $3.07 a gallon. Which seems low but maybe gas prices are falling everywhere. Next to the BP is a McDonald's we stop at and I get a coffee for the road. Road conditions in Iowa are probably the worst we have seen so far. They must spend their tax dollars on something else other than roads. Not much to see so I work on the blog.


One interesting thing we do see in Iowa is a number of Giant windmills along the road. And then going down I80 in the other direction are a number of trucks carrying the giant parts for windmills. We pass through Madison County which we presume the movie ‘The bridges of Madison county’ Takes place in. We also pass John Wayne and Bob Fellers birth places. At least that’s what the signs say.


Just west of Davenport IA we stop at what the signs say is the worlds largest truck stop. And they appear correct. It is a Travel America Truck Stop called the I 80 Truck Stop It is like Disney land with a full service restaurant, a full food court with fast food and about four different shopping areas. With old trucks around on display. Kind of neat. They have a penny smasher so I get a penny smashed. We decide to have lunch here. I have Taco bell and Jack has Wendy’s Not healthy but it tastes good. The also have high velocity hand driers in the restrooms. I have only seen these before in Japan. After the truck stop we get get back on I 80 and take I 280 around Davenport IA to connect back up with I80 in Illinois.



We drive by nothing special in Illinois. We do see a sign for Ronald Reagan's birthplace. A lot of farmers appear to be harvesting crops. As we get near Chicago the traffic gets much heavier. We stop for fuel to top off the tank just inside Indiana at a Travel America BP for fuel. We continue through Indiana and Ohio back home stopping once in Ohio for a rest and to fill up. We finally arrive home about 1 am.

Finally Home!


Our traveled mileage for today was 853.4 miles. By far the longest day.


Hear are some pictures from the road.





Jack in the morning on the last day of the trip.





The Iowa flag at one of the rest stops.




Jack looking for something in the Big Red Machine at a rest area in Iowa.




One blade from a giant windmill going down the road. We saw a number of blades on different trucks go by and then the giant pedestal was on yet another truck that went by.




The worlds largest truck stop on I80 just west of I280 near Davenport IA. Worth a stop if you are driving by.




One of the the many antique trucks on display in the worlds largest truck stop. The place was huge with many different departments.





Jack bought a bag of popcorn at the worlds largets truck stop and was eating it as he was driving.



Entering Indiana. Getting closer to home.

Day Eight - Deadwood - Sturgis - Wall - Badlands - Mitchell SD - Sioux City IA

This morning we start out with breakfast at our hotel which is the Hampton Inn in Deadwood. It is located at the far eastern end of Main Street. After breakfast we load up the BRM and head out. Starting the drive back east today. We drive route 16 east to Sturgis. Take a quick drive through Sturgis. It is where they have the big motorcycle rally every year in August. I’m sure the motorcycle rally is fun but to me it looks like a sleepy farm town. Before we get back on 90 we stop to fill up the BRM. I do a little PM on the Big Red Machine. I finally put on the new air filter we bought back in North Dakota. Hopefully we get at least a little better gas mileage. The old filter was rather dirty.

Back on I90 to Wall SD. Its about 80-90 miles. On the approach to Wall we see all kinds of billboards advertising Wall Drug. Including free water and 5 cent coffee. In Wall we get off to see the great Wall Drug. Wow has it changed from what I remember seeing it as a child. It is huge now with about 4 different entrances with maybe 7 or 8 different departments. There is a huge area out back that is a museum with all kinds of pictures and items on display. I do not remember it being this big. We get some pennies smashed in the penny smasher and buy a few trinkets in the souvenir department. Then we decide to have lunch in the café. We have free water and 5 cent coffee. Definitely Dave friendly prices! For lunch I have a buffalo burger and Jack has a Buffalo sausage. The buffalo sausage looks kind of gross to me but he says it tastes good. After lunch we pick up some free bumper stickers and head out.

Wall is one of the starting points for the scenic drive through the Badlands National Park. Route 240 is the route we take through the park. It is approximately 24 miles. There is an entrance fee but Jack has a Golden age pass he bought that gets us in for free. The views from the scenic drive are amazing. Unfortunately we do not have time take any of the hikes. We do stop for a short walk that is labeled a fossil hike. I though we would see big T-Rex fossils and such. It turns out to be just small fossils that were placed by the park service nothing great.

We stop at a number of the vistas to take pictures though. One of the vistas is called Big Foot Pass. I hope to find Big Foot here but no luck. We pull in to take pictures and it appears to be the picnic area we visited years ago when I was a child. At least the picnic tables look the same with the same strange looking canopy over them. I guess when I was a kid I complained because it was so hot and dry the bread on my PB&J sandwich dried before I could eat it. I find it hard to believe I would complain about anything. We stop and take a few pictures and talk to an older couple originally from Detroit who are picnicking. Next we stop at the visitor center a few miles down the road. We take a few pictures and get the National park passport stamp and continue on.

Back on I90 to Mitchell. It is about a 3 hour drive to Mitchell. The speed limit here is 75 so we can drive a little faster. Actually in both North and South Dakota the speed limit on the Interstates is 75. Nice for the speed but it kills the Big Red Machine gas mileage. Even though it appears we are in the middle of nowhere there is considerably more traffic in South Dakota than North Dakota. One interesting thing is that about ¾ of the way to Mitchell the road seems to come down a large gradual hill and the scenery changes. So far most of South Dakota was like North Dakota big wide open pasturelands with hills and rocks. Now it is greener with more trees and crops like corn. There have also been lots of sunflower crops all over North and South Dakota. We both wonder how they keep the birds out of the sunflowers.

We had a bit of a close call with the fuel coming in to Mitchell. I decide to wait until Mitchell to stop for fuel but about 10-15 miles before Mitchell the fuel light comes on telling us to stop now. As I mentioned the BRM doesn’t get good mileage going 75 mph. We make it to the first gas station we find in Mitchell and fill up. It is a Shell station. Then we drive the few blocks to the Corn Palace. It is a big building with Murals drawn on the sides made from Corn. A tourist trap I’m sure. This is a good time of year to see it because it is harvest time and the corn on the murals looks new. There are still a few murals on the front of the building they are working on. It is about 6:30 pm and unfortunately the Palace and gift shop close at 5:30 pm so we are unable to buy any post cards or trinkets. We take a few pictures and drive down Main Street back to I90. Jack mentions that the first time he came out here there were no interstates and he remembers the main two lane road they drove on across South Dakota came right through Main street past the Corn Palace.

We decide to take the more southern route through Iowa home instead of continuing I90 through Minnesota and Wisconsin. So we drive I 90 to Sioux falls and then get on I29 south to Sioux City Iowa. It is dark out and not much to see. Jack drives and I work on the blog. We stop in Sioux City for the night at a Fairfield Inn. Jack likes the free breakfasts at Fairfield Inns. It is late so we just have snacks and PB&J in the room for dinner.

Here are some pictures.

Jack at Breakfast in the Hampton Inn.


A sign from Sturgis.


Downtown Sturgis. It looked kind of slow. It probably only fills up during the Bike rally.


Dave putting the new air filter on the Big Red Machine.


Outside Wall Drug in Wall South Dakota. Wow was it big. We still got free water and 5 cent coffee though.


Jack getting his 5 cent coffee at Wall Drug. He complained that they don't give free refills.


Jack eating his Buffalo Sausage.


A scenic view of Badlands National park on the western end of 240.


Another Scenic view of Badlands National park. Some of what you see in the picture is called the wall. It separates the upper and lower prairie and is slowly eroding away. Now the roads make it easy to go up and down but the early pioneers had more trouble.


Dave in the Badlands.


Bigfoot pass. I looked for Bigfoot here but couldn't find him. The next picture of us at the picnic table is in the Bigfoot Pass picnic area.


Dave and Jack in the Bigfoog pass picnic area. These are the tables we think we picniced at almost 30 years ago during our family trip out west.



Dave and Jack at the Badlands Visitor Center.


Dave and Jack at the Corn Palace. Unfortunately everything was closed for the day.

Day Seven - Rushmore - Crazy Horse - Deadwood

We woke up this morning and had breakfast at the Keystone Cafe. It appears much of the real estate in Keystone is owned by the same company. All three restaurants we have eaten at in Keystone have the same interior and the two places we had breakfast have the same exact menu. Though they are located in three separate locations and have different names appears they are under the same management.

After breakfast its off to the 'Heads' as Jack calls Mount Rushmore. We decide to stop back at Mount Rushmore to take a few more pictures in the morning with the Sun shining directly on the Monument. The weather is perfect again. Total sun without a cloud in the sky. After snapping a few photos. (To add to the gazillion we have already taken) we head down the road to Crazy Horse Monument. It is only 20 minutes down the road. Crazy Horse is a privately funded endeavor that is still in progress. So it cost 10 bucks a person to get in. Its for a good cause I guess.

The Crazy Horse Monument is quite impressive. It is quite a bit bigger than Mount Rushmore but the viewing area is a mile away so it looks smaller. Only the face is completed and the rest is just roughed out. And the work has been going on for over 50 years! So they have a way to go. There is alot more at the visitor center than I thought there would be. A Movie theater, museum, viewing area, restaurant. We end up spending a few hours here looking at everything and having some lunch in the restaurant.

They give away free rocks that have been blasted off the mountain. For a donation of course. So I leave a small donation and take some rocks. So Uncle Larry will have the rock he requested. Although shipping is not included so he will have to come to Ohio to pick it up.

After crazy horse we go on the scenic byway drive through Custer State park. The scenery is excellent. We don't make it all the way around the wildlife loop part because of time but we do make it to the area where the buffalo are. There are buffalo roaming the park but this time of year they round them up for yearly inventory/medical reasons. So the buffalo are in fenced in pastures and easy to see. We get within about 10 - 20 feet. But there is a double fence between us and them. Good thing because as per usual I got a little to close to one of the mother buffalo and her little one. It charged at me. Scared the begeezers out of me. Luckily it stopped short. I hope the fence would have held.

After the buffalo viewing we head back up 16 to Keystone and then up 385 to Deadwood. On the way up 16 there is a mule in the middle of the road blocking our path. I drive the BRM right up to it and lay on the horn but it could care less. It wont move so I have to drive around it. Dumb mule. Also on this part of 16 are a series of tunnels through the rock that line up directly with mount Rushmore in the distance. So as we drive through the tunnel Mount Rushmore is right in front of us. Though far away. On the ride up 385 there is alot of smoke not to far to the left. There are a lot of controlled burns going on with the forest service so it was very smokey.

There wasn't much open in Keystone so we decide to spend the night in Deadwood. It looks like a cool old western town. Unfortunately we are ru1nning a little late so it is just about dark when we get in. It appears to us that much of the town it gambling. A lot of little casinos in the old historic buildings on Main Street.

We check in the Hampton Inn On Main Street and go for a walk. We end up eating at a place called 'The Deadwood Social Club' It is upstairs from an old western looking bar. The only one we reallycan see. Like I mentioned most of the buildings seem to house casinos. Our Hotel recommended this restaurant. It was quite good. Had a lot of Italian type food but it was not just an Italian restaurant. I had a pheasant fettuccini dish and Jack has shrimp tortellini. We walk around a little bit but there are mostly just casinos so we call it a night.

Here are some pictures

Here I am in booming Keystone. Notice I can stand in the middle of the street as long as I like.

Here is a photo of Mount rushmore from the side. It was taken from a location outside the memorial area on the road to Crazy Horse.

Here we are in front of Crazy horse. It is a mile away.

A better photo of Crazy horse. They are now working on the horses head which you can see its ear drawn out in white paint.

Here I am in Custer state park next to the Bison.

A close up of a Bison.

Here is the dumb mule that was in the middle of the road and would not move!

A famous site in Deadwood. We passed this on our way to dinner.


The Deadwood Social Club Restaurant. An excellent restaurant.

Dave and Jack at Dinner.

Here is a closeup of my dinner. A pheasant fettuccini dish. Excellent.

Mainstreet Deadwood. Lots of casinos. Although you can not really tell from this photo.


A picture of the deadwood post office.

Day Six - Keystone SD - Mount Rushmore

Today we went on the 1880 steam train. The train station is right across the street from our hotel so we can walk there. It is a steam train that runs from Keystone to Hill city. It was about an hour ride then a 45 minute stop in Hill city, where we had lunch and a quick walk around town, and then about an hour ride back. Excellent scenic ride. Although because it is the off season I am the youngest person the tree.

Stopped back at the hotel and then drove up to Mount Rushmore. It is only a few miles down the road. It is quite developed now. There is a parking garage and a huge concrete plaza and visitor center. Jack noted a few times that the first time he was here he was able to just drive the car up and camp right under the monument and watch it at night. Not anymore. Its like Disneyland. All the new garage/plaza/walkway stuff was built from 1994 - 98. They have some pictures in the visitors center what it looked like before that. Probably the way it was when I was here as a child.
Took a zillion pictures of the monument, visited the visitors center and walked the presidential trail which took us to the base of the monument. It was about 5 pm and we decided to drive back to town and get some dinner and then come back to see the monument at night. Drove back to town and got some pizza for dinner. T

hen headed back to the monument. Took a zillion pictures again with the lights on. There is a large amphitheater at the monument which has a nice presentation every night by a ranger. Of course the presentations end Sept 30. And now they just turn the lights on at dark but no presentation. Piped yet again. We missed it by one day! It is nice and quiet while looking at the monument. I try to fill out some post cards but its kind of dark to see what I am writing.

Head back to the white house resort to work on the blog.






A picture of Jack with the engine on the 1880 train just before we got on for the ride to hill city.




Going up a hill on the train. One interesting thing. The train is a steam train but it burns oil. Not coal. Coal and wood burning was outlawed in the 1920's because of fire risk.







A picture of the White House resort Hotel. Not a bad hotel.







Jack and I at Mount Rushmore.







The walkway leading up to Mount Rushmore.




The plaza at Mount Rushmore.


Mount Rushmore at night. This is one of the pictures from my new camera.

Day Five - Teddy Roosevelt Nat Park ND - Spearfish SD - Keystone SD

Today we started out the day with a hearty breakfast at the Cowboy Cafe in Medora. Checked out of the Badlands Motel and headed in to Teddy Roosevelt National park. Drove the loop road again. This time we saw a large number of Bison. Well about 30-40 of them. Stopped for a while to take pictures. Very cool. I tried to get as close as I could but there was a creek in my way so I could only get within probably 200 yards. Probably a good thing the creek was there.

Went for a small hike on the buck hill trail which at the top had some amazing views. Also went for a hike on the Wind Canyon trail which had some amazing views of the little Missouri river. I almost hit a prairie dog with the BRM. But with my catlike reflexes I was able to hit hit the brakes and miss it. Dumb prairie dog ran right out in the middle of the road. Jack keeps calling them squirrels. But I don't think they are even closely related.

Had a quick picnic lunch at the Chimney public park just outside the national park. Then back in the chariot down I94 a few exits then a right on route 85 to South Dakota. Stopped at a Dairy Queen at I94 and 85. Ordered a chocolate cone and they said they only have vanilla cones. They haven't carried chocolate cones for a year. Whats the deal with that. Piped again. I'll have to write Warren Buffet. He owns Dairy Queen. The trip down 85 was largely uneventful. Lots of rolling hills, rocks, hay and cattle. Looks a lot like Montana. Very few cars.

One small incident was a cow that must have gotten loose and was in the middle of the road. We had to stop to let it cross. Continued down 85 to 385 and 16A through Spear Fish SD and Deadwood SD to Keystone SD. Deadwood looks really neat. We just drove through but will have to go back and stop there. Keystone is a tiny town. Only 300 people I think. Looks like a total tourist trap with lots of souvenir stores.

We decide to stay at the White House resort hotel. Which looks like a total tourist trap but its actually pretty nice. It has just been remodeled. We try to find dinner but nothing is open except the saloon down the street and it doesn't serve food. So we have peanut butter and Jelly in the room and call it a night.

The Badlands hotel did not have a free breakfast so we went to the Cowboy Cafe. Good food.

The putt putt course was closed at the badlands hotel but I got my picture by the bison on the 7th hole.

Some Bison poop.

The top of the Buck Hill trail. Awesome views.

Here I am with the 30-40 buffalo we saw.

A prairie dog.

A picture of some of the wild horses we saw.

Our picnic lunch. Notice we were civilized and actually used the table cloth.


Route 85 from North Dakota to South Dakota. Notice the nothingness.