Big trip to the Rockies and back - 2017
We got an early start today. That made for some good news and bad news. Good news: we were able to make it the Mt Rushmore Memorial ahead of the official opening and were let in for free. The bad news: the gift shops were not open for us to get souvenirs before leaving.
From Mt Rushmore, we proceeded to head towards Custer State Park along Iron Mountain Road, which was a beautiful ride with all the pigtails and switchbacks. Within Custer, we took the Wildlife Loop and saw lots of antelope, some burros, and a whole bunch of prairie dogs. I was becoming disappointed about not seeing any buffalo and then, while driving through Wind Cave National Park we came upon a huge herd frolicking around. They came right onto the road and within a few feet of the people and cars/bikes! Doing the Needles Hwy (Hwy 87) was a lot of fun too.
We then went up to the Crazy Horse Memorial and had lunch there as well. Then, it was back up Hwy385 to Hill City and on to Deadwood. Deadwood was WAY too touristy and busy, so we never did stop there and instead made our way back up to Sturgis. After a visit to the local HD dealer and then a short tour of the downtown, we took SD34 into Wyoming and wound up at the Hulett Motel in Hulett, WY for the night, with dinner just a few yards away at the Ponderosa Cafe.
Tomorrow, we move on to see Devil's Tower and on into Montana for
lou.dealmeida
29 chapters
15 Apr 2020
Day 6 - July 19
July 20, 2017
|
Keystone, SD to Hulett, WY
We got an early start today. That made for some good news and bad news. Good news: we were able to make it the Mt Rushmore Memorial ahead of the official opening and were let in for free. The bad news: the gift shops were not open for us to get souvenirs before leaving.
From Mt Rushmore, we proceeded to head towards Custer State Park along Iron Mountain Road, which was a beautiful ride with all the pigtails and switchbacks. Within Custer, we took the Wildlife Loop and saw lots of antelope, some burros, and a whole bunch of prairie dogs. I was becoming disappointed about not seeing any buffalo and then, while driving through Wind Cave National Park we came upon a huge herd frolicking around. They came right onto the road and within a few feet of the people and cars/bikes! Doing the Needles Hwy (Hwy 87) was a lot of fun too.
We then went up to the Crazy Horse Memorial and had lunch there as well. Then, it was back up Hwy385 to Hill City and on to Deadwood. Deadwood was WAY too touristy and busy, so we never did stop there and instead made our way back up to Sturgis. After a visit to the local HD dealer and then a short tour of the downtown, we took SD34 into Wyoming and wound up at the Hulett Motel in Hulett, WY for the night, with dinner just a few yards away at the Ponderosa Cafe.
Tomorrow, we move on to see Devil's Tower and on into Montana for
a visit to the Little Big Horn Battlefield
1.
Pre-trip Stuff
2.
Day 1 - July 14
3.
Day 2 - July 15
4.
Day 3 - July 16
5.
Day 4 - July 17
6.
Day 5 - July 18
7.
Day 6 - July 19
8.
Day 7 - July 20
9.
Day 8 - July 21
10.
Day 9 - July 22
11.
Day 10 - July 23
12.
Day 11 - July 24
13.
Day 12 - July 25
14.
Day 13 - July 26
15.
Day 14 - July 27
16.
Day 15 - July 28
17.
Day 16 - July 29
18.
Day 17 - July 30
19.
Day 18 - July 31
20.
Day 19 - August 1
21.
Day 20 - August 2
22.
Day 21 - August 3
23.
Day 22 - August 4
24.
Day 23 - August 5
25.
Day 24 - August 6
26.
Day 25 - August 7
27.
Day 26 - August 8
28.
Day 27 - August 9
29.
Some final thoughts
Share your travel adventures like this!
Create your own travel blog in one step
Share with friends and family to follow your journey
Easy set up, no technical knowledge needed and unlimited storage!
