Greetings from the other South State - South Dakota

Well this is it... Live from the other South State! South Dakota. At last a trip for pleasure instead of work. Today we left Rapid City and toured the Badlands National Park area about 50 miles East of Rapid City, SD. The fields on the drive were loaded with hay and rolling hills. Here is a picture of the fields with hay as far as you could see.
South Dakota is famous for Wall Drug. When my dad was in the military he saw signs in Japan of how many miles it was to Wall Drug in South Dakota. They had road signs all the way from Rapid City and I found this offer of Free Ice Water just too funny not to take a picture of.

Of course when we got to Wall Drug sure enough there was the Free Ice Water. I guess if you advertise you have to make the effort to deliver right?

Wall is a small town on I-90 just north of the Badlands and just East of Rapid City. The town is really small and pretty much all there is to do is eat and shop at the drug store. Mom was brave enough to ride the Jackalope. Note there is not a picture of me doing this. I know what get's posted on the internet.

Anyone who knows me knows the terror I have when it comes to snakes. So you know I was not too thrilled to see this sign. Of course it was far too hot for the snakes to be out, we didn't see a one. I guess this is one way to keep people on the path (NOT).

I got off the path and saw this beautiful picture. I wanted to know what he was looking at so I had to get closer.

When I did I realized what this fella must have been thinking... How the heck am I gonna get down there? And why are they hanging on the side of the cliff like that? Is there room for three?

Once we got through the bulk of the Badlands which I consider "South Dakota's Grand Canyon" we started seeing the prarie dogs. They were so cute and I bought some unsalted peanuts to feed them. This one even posed for me. As you can tell he's had a few peanuts in his days, look at that pot belly.

Just before checking into our room we ran across the cemetary that is one of the reasons we came. My dad's family is from Custer SD and we wanted to see my grandparents graves. My real grandfather passed away when my dad was about 8 years old. We found his gravesite quicker than we thought considering I have not been here in 14 years and mom in about 17 years.

Not sure what the plans for tomorrow hold. Sometime this week we will see Mt. Rushmore; Crazy Horse and then who knows what from there. Keep an eye out and I'll try to post more pictures if I have time.

Custer, SD

It’s pretty amazing how technology has changed the way we travel compared to when I started my career. When I first started traveling we had to use maps and Cell phones were reserved for Senior Management.

This week after boarding the plane I was able to watch our route as we were flying. I watched the new US President Obama make his first speech (live from 30,000 feet). I was able to select my own movie and watch it. When I was bored with that I was able to pull out my iTouch containing so much music it would take me a week to listen to each song.

I enjoy watching the flight path and each trip I make sure to keep track of the route. This week on the way to Portland we took a more northern route than usual. The route took us from Atlanta over Nashville, St. Louis, Omaha, Custer (SD), Yellowstone, Montana, the Idaho Panhandle on to Portland.

The one city that stands out is Custer, SD. This is the town where my father was born. It’s in the Black Hills of South Dakota very close to Mount Rushmore. My grandparents and several uncles are buried there.

I remember my last trip to South Dakota was with my father to attend my grandmother’s funeral. He took me and showed me things he did as a child. We went to the edge of the badlands and around the mountains. I didn’t know it at the time but it would be my last trip to South Dakota with my father.

My mom has mentioned that she would like to go on vacation there again someday. I hope in the next few years we can make that happen.

I was such a fortunate child and my father was a great man. I’m sure there are many people out there who think their father is great. And there are many more that did not have a father or did not have a great one. I was very blessed to have my dad, he was a man I respected and I will write more about him in my future blogs. He passed away 12 years ago this spring. He would be so amazed to see the technology we take for granted now.