Tuesday, July 21

We were up at 4:30 am to shower and get breakfast before heading to the airport for our 9am flight to Minneapolis. We got through TSA pretty quickly and were at our gate with plenty of time to spare. The flight to Minneapolis was smooth, and we had ample time to transfer to our connecting flight to Rapid City, so I got a bowl at Panda Express for lunch while Cheryl ate the lunch she brought. Then we got a small plane to Rapid City, picked up our bags, and found that the shuttle to the hotel was waiting specifically for us. So that was a good sign about Caravan Tours. When I had made the booking on the web site I told them which flight we would be coming in on, and apparently they used that information to provide good service.

At the hotel they were expecting us, and then we checked in with our Tour Director, also named Cheryl. We went to our room and were disappointed that there was no mini-fridge there, and started thinking about how we could work around that, maybe by buying a cooler and using ice, but on our way out to go shopping we met Cheryl the Tour Director again and mentioned it to her, and she suggested we just ask at the Front Desk, and they said no problem, they would send one up. Then we walked a few blocks to a store so Cheryl could get some fresh veggies. And as we walked we saw on the street corners statues made of solid copper, of all of the Presidents except Biden, and his statue is scheduled to go up in 2027. The statues are all provided and paid for by private citizens, but the city gives them the street corner locations. And in front of a Native American crafts store there was a statue of Sacajawea, who guided the Lewis and Clark expedition.

By the time we got back the minifridge was already in our room, and Cheryl T.D. told us that all of our rooms for the rest of the trip would come with a minifridge as well. After putting away the groceries, we did a little investigating for places to get dinner, and decided on Ruby Tuesday for tonight. It was too far to walk, so we took an Uber. The driver of the Uber also drove for Lyft, and told us we would do better with Lyft since it dominated in Rapid City, so while we were in the restaurant I installed the Lyft app and used that to get back to the Rushmore Hotel.

At 7pm we had the introductory meeting with Cheryl T.D., and she went over all of the plans for the week. Following that, it had been a long day so we went to bed.

Wednesday, July 22

We were up early, at 5:30 am to shower, get dressed, and get breakfast. Breakfast at the hotel is the included meal every day, while in general lunch and dinner you are on your own. We were joined at breakfast by a couple from South Carolina who were also on a Caravan tour, but not ours. They were on one two days ahead of us, so they were getting ready to leave Rapid City while we will be here two more days. But they told us that they really liked Caravan Tours, and recommended the Costa Rica tour.

At 8:30 we boarded the bus and headed for the Badlands National Park. Our first stop had a couple of trails named Door and Window. The Door trail was a boardwalk, but at the end you you could step off and get on the rocks. The rocks were more solid than they looked, but clambering over rocks formations is no longer anything I can contemplate doing, so we stayed on the safer part of it. Then we walked to the Moon Trail, which is also a boardwalk, but it leads to an overlook into a canyon, which was very nice. The reason the trails are boardwalks is for safety. There are signs everywhere warning you about rattlesnakes, and staying on the boardwalks keeps you pretty safe. The snakes are not active hunters, exactly. They sit and wait for a critter they can ambush, which is one reason you should not bring a dog here. They might be under the boardwalk, but as long as you stay on top you are OK. They do love prairie dogs, and there are lots them in this area,

5 we went to the Visitor Center, where I picked up another stamp for my National Parks Passport, and a magnet and a patch. There were some nice exhibits there, and they have a lab where fossils found in the park are being prepared live in front of you. After this we had a brief photo stop at some colored rock formations. In the lower part they were yellow, caused by tannins from the trees that once grew here, and when they died the tannins leached into the ground and became part of the rocks. Above the yellow was red, which of course is always caused by iron oxides. We left the park and headed to the town of Wall, and along the way we saw lots of prairie dogs.

Wall is of course the home of the world famous Wall Drug. It was started by a pharmacist named Hustead, who had the bright idea of offering free ice water to motorists driving by on the highway. Then they added the 5 cent cup of coffee, and both offers are still good to this day. And now they offer a free coffee and a free donut to any veteran of the armed forces. But they serve a lot of food there. I saw a billboard proclaiming that they have 530 seats in the various restaurant rooms there. I took advantage of the opportunity to try a Buffalo Burger, but to be honest if I didn’t know any better I would think it was just a normal hamburger. They also offer you a free bumper sticker, and since I am picking up a new car when we return I got a bumper sticker for it. There is actually a pharmacy in there somewhere, but it has grown into something much larger. We enjoyed the visit but I was getting tired so I was happy to get back on the bus for our trip back to Rapid City.

We decided to get dinner at Olive Garden, so we again used Lyft for our transportation. Then it was back to the hotel to relax before going to bed.

Thursday, July 23

Up early again, and this time we were joined by Gloria and Ed from Mississippi for breakfast. The bus pulled out at 8am today and we had a lot to do. First stop was Custer State Park. This is not the site of the famous battle of Little Bighorn, which we will see tomorrow. But Custer was stationed here by Sioux territory so taking his name for the park is just good marketing. This stop was primarily for seeing wildlife, and in addition to the ubiquitous prairie dogs we saw a lot of bison, a few pronghorn, and a few feral donkeys. There is a good size herd of bison here, and they do a roundup every year where they check the animals’ health, and then pick out some for sale to keep the herd size manageable. It is quite an affair, and people come just to watch the roundup.

From there we went to the Crazy Horse memorial, which is still very much a work in progress. The designer and initial chief sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, had worked on Mount Rushmore, and then was approached by the Sioux chief Standing Bear to do a memorial to honor Native Americans, and Ziolkowski agreed and made it his life’s work. He is long since gone, and his family have continued working on the sculpture. In addition, there is a museum of Native American arts, and a NAtive American University. We saw a film about the construction, viewed the Musuem, and caught part of a dance performance. The sculpture will be the largest in the world when it is complete.

Our last stop was Mount Rushmore. This was a work in progress when World War II broke out, and all the workmen left to fight the war. The original conception by the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, was to have the four presidents displayed from the waist up, but obviously that never happened. And they discovered it would not have worked anyway because under the granite that the heads were carved out of was a different type of rock that was not suitable. But we saw a model of what Borglum had in mind in the Sculptor’s Studio. We saw a film about the construction, and remarkably not a single man was killed doing the work. 

Finally we returned to the hotel, and went to dinner at the Mongolian Grill. Sadly this was not as good as what we used to have in Ann Arbor, but it did what was necessary. Then we went out to see a little bit of local flavor. We went to an alley that is designated as Art Alley, and it is open to anyone who wants to paint something. Some of it is just graffiti, but some of it is pretty good muralism. Then we checked the Summer Nights, where the close some blocks downtown, have bands playing music, and generally allow for people to enjoy a summer evening. But after that it was time for bed.

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