My South Dakota Vacation

[Kor37 9]

I'm still on vacation but I'll let you all know what I've been doing so far. I'll post pics when I get home.

We got here this past Saturday. After getting out of the airport, we took the rental car and headed to Deadwood. It was late afternoon at this point so we just checked into our hotel, wandered around for a bit and then had dinner. On Sunday we explored the town thoroughly. Its a neat old

Western town where Wild Bill Hickok got killed. The whole town seems to revolve around that one event. We went to a rodeo in the afternoon. That was pretty cool. I've never seen one before. Afterwards we watched the reinactment of the shooting of Wild Bill in the #10 Saloon. Afterwards, they chased the killer and dragged him through the streets to the courthouse. We walked along with them and bought tickets to see the trial. They let a few of the audience members take part in the trial. I volunteered to play the part of a witness to the killing. It was a lot of fun.

On Monday, we took a Segway tour on one of the trails through the Black Hills. Segways are awesome! I have to get me one! Monday evening we packed up and took off for Belle Fourche to prepare for our dinosaur dig the next morning. The paleontologist who was our guide took us a 1 1/2 hour drive through the badlands to the middle of nowhere and showed us what to do. It was a long and really hot day digging into the side of a cliff for fossils. We came up with some awesome stuff though. My wife and son both found T-Rex teeth. They weren't allowed to keep one of them because it was too valuable and the agreement was that really valuable stuff was to be donatged to a museum. I found some Triceratops teeth and some alligater teeth and a bunch of bone fragments. Right at the end of the day I had a great find. It was this huge hunk of bone. Our guide told me he was pretty sure it was a horn from a triceratops. I uncovered a good part of it but couldn't finish because we ran out of time. He promised to finish the job the next day and send me pics and tell me what it was for sure. We were really tired when we got back to the hotel so we just showered and went out to eat. On Wednesday, We drove back to Rapid City because we had a tour scheduled to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Eric is transferring there this semester to pursue his degree in Geology and it is one of the best schools for it. When we got there, we found out that he has already been accepted which was great news. We took a tour of the school and went through the Museum of Geology which is there as well. After that we took off for Keystone, SD which is where Mount Rushmore is. On the way we stopped by a place called "Bear Country USA" which is a sort of drive through zoo but the animals come right up to the car. We saw bears, wolves,reindeer and buffalo. It was pretty nice. We got to Keystone yesterday afternoon. We took an old steam engine train on a ride through the Black Hills and then ate dinner ar a restaurant. Today, we are going to Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Tomorrow we are going to the Little Bighorn battlefield and then Saturday we are flying home. I've taken tons of pics and I'll share them with you all when I get back.

[Indy 8]

Sounds like you're having tons of fun, Kor. I've always wanted to try one of those Segways...

 

Hope the rest of your trip goes well!

 

[RikerChick 5]

Sounds like a great trip :P

[Kor37 9]

We had an awesome time today! First we took a helicopter ride all over the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. Then we took one of those Alpine chair lift rides up the mountain to get a closer look at Mt. Rushmore. After that, we drove over to the Crazy Horse Memorial. When we were done with that, we drove over to Hill City and went to the Black Hills Museum of Natural History. Eric had a great time there and was even offered an internship for next summer. After the museum, we ate dinner at this great Cowboy restaurant and then drove back to Mt. Rushmore to see the night time lighting ceremony. Pretty awesome and patriotic stuff.

[Kor37 9]

Long day today:

 

- Started off by going to Custer State Park. Spent most of the day there. Saw a herd of Buffalo.

 

- In the afternoon, we drove over to the Badlands and cruised around there for awhile. We stopped at the Wounded Knee memorial.

 

- On the way back, we went to the Rushmore cave and took a hike inside this massive cave. Pretty impressive.

 

- After that, we ate dinner and headed back to the hotel. We have to pack everything up to get ready to fly home tomorrow.

[Kor37 9]

Here are some pics from Deadwood:

 

This is the grave of Wild Bill Hickock. Calamity Jane is buried right next to him.

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This are some pics from the Annual Deadwood Rodeo:

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Here is "Wild Bill Hickock" after being shot in the # 10 Saloon:

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Here is "Wild Bill's" killer being dragged through the streets toward the courthouse:

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This is me "testifying" at the trial of the killer"

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Here are some shots that fans of the TV show "Deadwood" might enjoy:

This is the Bullock Hotel actually built by Sherriff Seth Bullock:

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This is the Gem Theater located on the actual site of the original:

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This is me standing on Al Swearengen's balcony in the Gem:

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Here I am on my Segway ready to tour the town:

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Here is my son Eric on his Segway:

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Edited August 10, 2008 by Kor37

[Kor37 9]

Here are some pics of when we went digging for dinosaur bones:

 

This is a pic of a part of a T Rex tooth that my wife uncovered:

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This is Dr. Walter Stein, our guide, and Eric scraping away at the sandstone:

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Here are a few shots of me working on uncovering this large piece of a horn from a Triceretops that I discovered:

 

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[Kor37 9]

Some Reindeer crossing the road right in front of our car:

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A herd of buffalo at Custer State Park:

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At the site of the Wounded Knee massacre:

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Wild donkeys on the side of the road:

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Some pics of the Black Hills of South Dakota:

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[Kor37 9]

Some pics of our helicopter tour of the Black Hills National Forest:

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Flying by Mt. Rushmore:

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More aerial shots of the Black Hills:

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[Kor37 9]

Mr. Rushmore:

Here is what Mt. Rushmore will look like after they add my face to the mountain.....

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Some more Mt. Rushmore shots:

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Some pics of the Crazy Horse Memorial:

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[Odie 0]

Wow! You really got good pictures of Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse.

[Theunicornhunter 2]

I have to admit South Dakota doesn't jump to mind as prime vacation spots but looks like you had a really good time and saw some interesting history.

[Indy 8]

Awesome, Kor!! Looks like you had a great time and brought back some outstanding pics. I can hardly wait until you go on your next vacation. (I mean to see the pictures, not that I'm trying to get rid of you.)

[RikerChick 5]

Really cool pics Kor :)

[Kor37 9]

This is a shot of Deadwood from on top of Mount Moriah. It really shows how beautiful the Black hills are.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Great pictures, you should open an album in the Gallery (Up near the Live Chat link). One of these days I'm going to have to take a vacation.

[Bethlehem 7]

Thanks for sharing, the pictures are great and we got to enjoy your vacation at a very affordable price. FREE