The Clan's 2020 SD (South Dakota / Social Distancing) Vacation - Episode 7: Glamping back in Iowa

We started our last morning in South Dakota with a quick stop at the nearby South Dakota Air and Space Museum. This interesting museum is situated right next to the Ellsworth Air Force Base, which notably serves as the host of one of the rare B-1B Lancer bomber wings of the US Air Force. If you haven't seen a B-1B before, it is a really impressive looking aircraft which is much bigger up close than you would ever expect it to be looking at it in the sky!

We stopped at the Badlands National Park one last time, this time specifically to complete the Junior Ranger Program at that park (we got to the ranger office too late the previous two times!)

Just as we approached the border, we stopped at this rest stop and impressive overlook, which commemorates South Dakota's Native American heritage and history as a part of Lewis and Clark's journey:

We made camp that night at Sioux City, back in Iowa, to break up the drive back to Cedar Rapids.

The next morning, we started with a brief visit to the  Sergeant Floyd Monument. This interesting (and free!) memorial is a grounded river steam boat which serves to remember one Sergeant Charles Floyd, who died of sickness in this location as the sole casualty of the Lewis and Clark expedition! It was a great spot to learn about the expedition itself as well as the riverboat culture of the Mississippi River!

Poor Floyd - but he will be remembered forever here!

Finally, we made the three hour drive back to East Iowa, stopping at Lake Redrock for the night to go tent camping with our good friend Doug! Cherry and I hadn't tent camped for over ten years (to be honest, it's a little rough for us "city-slickers"!) but the kids had never done it before. Doug did all the hard work for us and let us have all the fun of glamping with none of the work! Though it was still not very comfortable!

Doug's brother Mike's father-in-law Dallas taught us how to play Bocce Ball

Makin' dinner for everyone!

Making the campfire

Roasting marshmallows...

To make 'Smores!

Good night!

Exploring the luxury RV!

Griddling Hotcakes in the Full Kitchen

Getting in one more camping game before heading home!

Finally, we headed back to our home-tel in Cedar Rapids, and our 2020 SD Vacation came to an end!

The Clan's 2020 SD (South Dakota / Social Distancing) Vacation - Episode 6: Experiencing the Wild West in the Northern Black Hills

We started Day 6 with a brief trip through the famous small town of Sturgis, a sleepy little town which for one week ever year hosts the upwards of 400K visitors during the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally - even this year smack dab in the middle of Covid. In fact, some studies have pointed to the 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle rally as one of the recent super-spreader events, possibly linked to hundreds of thousands of cases around the U.S... By the time we'd arrived in Sturgis, however, it was back to it's normal sleepy self, with nary a soul on the roads.

A throne made of motorcycle parts in Sturgis

We continued our journey to the historic Wild West town of Deadwood, South Dakota. This town was founded in 1876 in the midst of a gold rush in the region, attracting characters like Wild Bill Hickok, who was killed here  in 1876 when he came here in search of fortune. His murder is a centerpiece of the town, which reenacts the events of his unusual story at the actual sites where the purported events occurred!

Several of the characters who spent time here in Deadwood in the Days of '76

Deadwood is also notable for hosting the annual Days of 76 Rodeo, a parade and rodeo event that has taken place for 97 years!

Deadwood transformed from essentially a gold mining town to a sophisticated city in the early 20th century, bringing all kinds of international trade to the region, including Chinese traders, as seen here

The Wagons and Carriages exhibit showed the evolution of wagons, from functional cargo and passenger carriers to luxury horse-drawn vehicles as Deadwood became more cosmopolitan

Some funny masks

The site of the poker game that claimed Wild Bill Hickok's life

Part I of the daily re-enactment!

After our Wild West history lesson, we continued further northwest. By now, we'd explored the southern part of the Black Hills twice, with visits to Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore, and we'd also explored the Badlands to the east twice. This part of South Dakota, I learned, is pretty unique since there are wildly different landscapes in each of the major directions. You had the prairies and granite needles in Custer State Park to the south, and the unique ever changing terrain of the Badlands. To the north, the landscape becomes very lush and green, as we would find out in Spearfish Canyon.

The Black Hills had actually seen its first snows the week before, but when we got there there was nothing but Autumn colors!

Beautiful Autumn canopy framing Spearfish Falls

Some loggers

Roughlock Falls

These mountains evoke images of China's Yellow mountains a bit...

Not to be outdone by the wildlife in the southern Black Hills, this family of mountain goats was grazing in the cliffs by the road!

Stay tuned for our last day in South Dakota, next on Grant's Pad!