Road Trip to South Dakota

There are surprisingly many things to do in South Dakota and I had a good time during my 3 day visit. From the Badlands to Mount Rushmore, it's a well-rounded vacation destination or a great spot for a road trip in the United States.

This road trip was supposed to be scheduled fjust in time for my birthday but Auntie Elvie got sick the day we were supposed to leave so we did not have a choice but to move it to another date. However, I am not disappointed because the weather was great and we had a good time.

Did you know that South Dakota is home to America's greatest monuments? And the landscape is also more than just prairies and farmland.

Starting from Portage, Wisconsin we left town for this 10 hour drive at 7 in the morning and got there roughly about 5 in the afternoon. We took a road trip around South Dakota to explore all the historic monuments and amazing lanscapes. We took a quick stop at Sioux Falls to visit the Corn Palace whic is a famous tourist attraction and get something to eat after a few hours of driving.

Mount Rushmore National Historic Site

Back in school, I have learned about Mt. Rushmore and it's greatness and that they were the faces of four American Presidents. I have always wondered where it was. I knew it was a historic monument but I never knew exactly where it was. It is definitely the main attraction on South Dakota and it is just as impressive in real life as it is in the movies or what we learn from school.

The monument of Crazy Horse

Before I visited South Dakota, I have never heard of the Crazy Horse memorial. Crazy Horse was a Native american and he was born in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1842 . He fought against the US Government who were taking the land and changing the way of life of the native american people. He is one of the native Americans and helped lead the assault against Custer, leading to his death in 1876. Korczak Ziolkowski, a Russian sculptor was asked to carve a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse which began in 1948. He worked mainly on his own, until his death in 1982 when his wife Ruth took over the project. Now, it is still run by the same family with 6 of his children and some grandchildren running the project.

Badlands National Park

If you are planning a vist, I am sure you will fall in love with the rugged terrain like I did. The Badlands is located in the Southwest corner of South Dakota. It is located an hour and twenty minutes from Rapid City.

You will get to venture on the boardwalk and follow yellow markers across the landscape. Since it was the start of winter time when we visited, we didnt get to hike as much because of the cold but we did walk a bit to enjoy the view of this spectacular landscape.

Also, We made sure to stop at WALDRUG on our way back to Wisconsin. Wall Drug is America's favorite roadside attraction. It is a big store that sells a variety of souveneirs and momentos from your visit to South Dakota. From novelty items to tourist stuff, this huge store has everything you can buy to take back home as remembrance from your trip.

This was a short bun enoyable trip to South Dakota. It was more of a break from the busy nature of my work and the mundane things that we all do everyday. It was worthwhile and I learned a lot about the history of the Native Americans as well as the famous monuments that we visited.

XOXO,

Karen