Sometimes, things are literal. We scheduled a stop at Pipestone National Monument because it was along our route. So what’s this one about? A stone quarry that native people used to carve out pipes… That said, the land is considered sacred by native americans, and only federally recognized tribes can get permits to quarry the… Continue reading Pipestone National Monument
Corn Palace
This is as touristy as it gets, but admission is free… The Corn Palace is located in Mitchell, SD. The building, completed in 1921 is basically an arena. But the exterior and many interior surfaces consist of images build entirely using different colors of corn cobs. The designs are changed once a year. The 2025… Continue reading Corn Palace
Carhenge
Who says we have to visit only serious attractions. Priorities for this trip were: 1- Complete our map / have camped at least one night in each of the lor 48 states. As of this writing, only one remains: Iowa 2- Visit all lower-48 National Parks. On this trip we visited fourteen, leaving only 10… Continue reading Carhenge
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
What’s interesting about Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is that it was discovered accidentally by a farmer, and it is truly a boneyard. Many specimens are on display inside the visitor center. One fossilized structure was accessible on a short trail (encased in plexiglas to prevent damage from visitors) It was established that these… Continue reading Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
Chimney Rock NHS
On our way back from Fort Laramie, we moved on to Chimney Rock National Historical Site. It has both a National Park Service visitor center, as well as a Nebraska State Historical Society piece of land closer to Chimney Rock with hiking trails to allow for great viewing of the formation. As the NPS site… Continue reading Chimney Rock NHS
Fort Laramie National Historical Site, Wyoming
Today was a rainy day, and being near the state line between Wyoming and Nebraska, we venytrured back west to visit a site which we have heard about a lot, both in the past and during this trip, Fort Laramie. It was originally established as a private fur trading fort in 1834, Fort Laramie evolved… Continue reading Fort Laramie National Historical Site, Wyoming
Scotts Bluff National Monument
Today we visited Scotts Bluff National Monument, which is just 3 miles away from our campground. The importance of Scotts Bluff is that it was on the route of homesteaders heading out to Oregon (the Oregon Trail) and also part of the route used by teh famous Pony Express. We visited the museum’s exhibits, and… Continue reading Scotts Bluff National Monument
Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
Today, we had an early start and did the first tour of the day inside Wind Cave. How that came about is that half of the tour tickets can be purchased one year in advance, and the remainder become available for same-day tours at the visitor center when it opens. So we were in line… Continue reading Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota
Minuteman Missile National Historical Site
Adjacent to Badlands NP is the Minuteman Missile National Historical Site. Due to our direction of travel, we visited the decommissioned nuclear missile silo site first, and then the visitor center second. The video in the auditorium, and the exhibits are, let’s say, disturbing. While it is good news that there was prior agreement to… Continue reading Minuteman Missile National Historical Site
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Even though today was a travel day, due to the proximity of the Visitor Center we decided to head out to it. After doing that and viewing the park’s movie, we saw and talked to two preparation paleontologists carefully separating rock from actual fossil samples. From there, we drove to “Wall drugs” in nearby Wall,… Continue reading Badlands National Park, South Dakota