Winneshiek Wildberry Winery

On the way to the winery

thru the middle of the Amish country

sharing the road with this horse and buggy

View from our RV  

after the tasting and a "flight" of 5 different wines to taste

They were Iowa wines, not at all like "the usual" ones 

"Rhubarb Crush",

"Cranberry Crush"

"Blackberry Blossom"

"Blueberry Thrill"

Sampling  the goods.

The "sign painting class" in the winery

Sounds fine to me!

Mitchell SD- the Corn Palace

A long drive thru the rolling hills of South Dakota-
The only tourist attraction is the Corn Palace.
They decorate the sides of the building every year with different shades of corn and different pictures every year.

The building is the town convention center / basketball arena.

The campground was very pleasant - thanks for the recommendation Jim and Cheryl.!

Aug 27--Happy 25th Anniversary

What a great way to celebrate our 25th anniversary!

Bridal Veil Falls in the Spearfish Canyon SD

25 years!!  What a great adventure!

Beautiful views on the Spearfish Scenic byway 

LEAD

        as in "lead to the gold" a mining term - not Lead (as in Leadville)
This city is a mile high, mile wide, mile deep!

The beginning open pit of the mine is a mile wide

After the gold ran out, they started developing testing for deep space secrets and black hole information by using the mile deep caverns from the old gold mine to study the sub-atomic particles.

                                                                          (Neutrinos)

This ring is part of a large stainless steel tank that had to be disassembled, lowered, and reassembled in the mine.  It was filled with cleaning fluid to hopefully detect particles that would pass through.

Today they use liquid Argon.

Today they have partnered with Stanford University and scientists from around the world, and still use the 90 year old, very well maintained equipment to access the mine.

Some of the deepest parts of the mine are over 8000 feet down and temperatures are 135 degrees.

                                 Unbelievable working conditions! 

Lou would like to ride down in this old cage!

We got a tour through the city and saw the house that Mary Baker Eddy (Christian Science founder) built and gave to her son for a Christmas present.

My favorite part of the trolley ride was on this street thru town

Reminded me of Israel when the bus couldn't get thru the narrow street and the men on the bus had to jump a parked car out of the way.  I don't think the men on this trolley would have been able to do that!

The tour guide just went and asked the owner to move his car.

Easy-peasy!

Ended the day witnessing the gun fight in Deadwood.

              and finally getting the nerve to eat the Rocky Mountain Oysters!!

Aug 26 - Jewel Cave, Mammoth Site, Wild Horse Sanctuary

We are enjoying the Black Hills region of South Dakota.
Jewel Cave - this is the 3rd longest cave in the world, and we were able to take a 'historic' tour - via lanterns for lighting our way along the 600 steps to the "Heavenly Room"

This original lamp was a paint can with a candle.

we got real lanterns!

He was at the side of the road - munching all the minerals out of that small pool of rain from last night.

The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs SD is the largest concentration of mammoth bones in the world.  

It is also an active dig site.

The Wild Horse Sanctuary 

 rescuing the Mustangs

Ah Yes, the free birthday dessert!

Badlands (and Wall Drug)

This has been an interesting area to travel through, to read about the hardships of both the Indians and the settlers  is very humbling.  (we can complain about our hardships but it is nothing compared to our forefathers)
     The Badlands are so remote, un-inviting, and brutal.  The homesteaders had to build their houses with sod bricks cut from the prairie, collecting cow chips for fuel, surviving harsh winters, horribly hot summers, and the farming was so difficult in this terrain that it was impossible to survive here.
     The Lakotas survived nicely by their nomadic lifestyle by hunting bison until the combats with the settlers forced them into the reservations.



The Wall Drug Store may seem like the ultimate 'tourist trap' but it is aa heart warming of challenges and endurance.  They bought the drug store in 1931 and Wall South Dakota had a population of 300+ people - all poor, all suffering from the Great Depression.   Despite warnings of friends and relatives, they wanted to try to stick it out (for at least 5 years.) . The 5 year mark was approaching and things were not going well ---
Since it was hot, dry, dusty, and there were tourists at Mount Rushmore, traveling east on the highway and there were no restaurants and 'mini marts',   she decided that they would all like a drink of ice water.  She made signs and rhymes (like the Burma Shave) and put them out on the highway approaching Wall. SD.   It turned out to save the store and it has become one of the big success stories of "You can do anything if you help give people what they need and want, and are nice, kind, and hardworking"

 
                                  The place is filled with fun images of times past.

The bad lands have so many pinnacles, ugly rocks that look like sandstone, on top of the plains, it reminds me of the Cathedral Gorge - lots of erosion!

We were lucky enough to see several big horn sheep  (pretty far away - but good to see them)

The area has a huge number of fossils and we were lucky enough to be able to watch them 

"Prepping fossils" and watch the people separate the rock and sand from the fossils.  

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse

A very impressive carving on a mountain!

This is the Sculptor's Studio with the working models

The scale is 1" to 12" on the mountain

After dynamite removes much of the granite, the workers 

have scaffolding hanging off the edges to work the details.  

Amazing processes to complete the sculptures.

Crazy Horse Memorial

If it ever gets finished it would be taller than the Washington Memorial and the Great Pyramid.

A tribute to Crazy Horse, one of the great Indian leaders that fought against the injustices of the 

US Government

 It is amazing to see how these mountain sculptures are created.

This 18 year old dancer is just heading off to college in Denver.

The Shawl Dance

The Lakota family and the traditional dances and costumes.