ON TO THE RETREAT

 I got up early and went exploring the Badlands National Park.  It is amazingly beautiful.

I went for a short walk around a boardwalk - it said to watch out for snakes.  Didn't see any but saw lots of beautiful plants and flowers.

I did see a Mountain Goat here though.

I had to wait until 8am for the Minute Man National Historic Park to open.  Normally, you could sign up for a tour down into the silo, but at the moment it's closed for repairs or something.  I would love to do that someday, but not today.  I have a long ways to go yet.  So, I got my passport stamped and headed out.

Since I'm in South Dakota, I wanted to stop in on the Capital Building in Pierre.  I must say, it's one of the most beautiful I've seen.  The marble and tile inside are very special.  But I didn't take photos of that.

Next and last stop in South Dakota was Britton, where my mother was born. 

The hospital where she was born is now an apartment building.

This plaque is outside that building.

I then headed north to North Dakota.  It was only about an hour's drive to Hankinson where the retreat would be held and I would meet up with my internet buddies.  We are staying at the St Francis Retreat Center, a convent.

I went 407 miles today.  That's a total of 2090 miles to get here.

MT RUSHMORE AND MORE

 Woke up to rain this morning.  What a difference from yesterday!  I left Hulett headed to Mt Rushmore.  It opens early, so I was there early.  I parked and walked in the rain up to the viewing platform.  I was soaked through by the time I got there.  I didn't bring a raincoat and my coat just got soaked.

The Avenue of the State Flags

The wet Washington State Flag

  After I got my passport stamped and bought some stickers and magnets it was off to the Crazy Horse Monument.  And it's still raining - hard.

Crazy Horse from inside the Visitors Center thru the wet window.

There are lots of exhibits of Native Arts and Crafts

Native art from all regions, too.

I didn't take the bus out to the monument in progress, I was too wet and had too many places to be today.  I would love to come back and actually see it taking shape.  They have big plans for this place, eventually a university among other things. 

Next stop was the Jewel Cave.  It's still raining.  They had a great exhibit of different kinds of formations that could be found in the cave.  But, I can't go down into it, I've got claustrophobia about caves.

Then I stopped for lunch at a nice little Mexican Restaurant called Maria's.

Refreshed and relaxed I headed to Wind Cave National Park (one of the 63).  And it's still raining.  I saw a few Buffalo on and near the road.  There were signs saying to be on the look out for Mountain Goats, but I didn't see any.

Luckily for me the Cave was actually closed today so I didn't have to feel bad about not wanting to go down there.  It was closed due to the rain!  I got my passport stamped and headed out.  This was the third time I got soaked through.

It was a bit of a long drive, but I made it to the Badlands Visitor Center at 5 minutes before the 4pm closing time.  I got my passport stamped and then headed to the Badlands Hotel.  It was not a luxury hotel, but it's cheap.

It was very windy, but not raining when I got there.

Mine was Room 12 in the corner.

I went 338 miles today, mostly on secondary roads, in the rain.  

I'm tired.

TO DEVILS TOWER

I left Gardiner MT, heading north back to I-90 on my way to Little Big Horn Battlefield Nat'l Monument.   

My favorite was the monument to the Native Americans, which was added later.

A big monument lists the names of all the Military deceased.

Then it was off to Devil's Tower in Wyoming, where I took a walk around the tower.  A very pleasant walk of about 1.6 miles.  It was 90* with a nice breeze and plenty of shade.  It was really nice to get out and walk for a bit.

Lots of Prairie Dogs in the park

I got my passport stamped and stopped for some Huckleberry ice cream on the way out of the park.

Then it was into Hulett, Wyoming where I had dinner at 77 Steakhouse, a golf club, and spent the night at Best Western Hotel. 

I've gone 1345 miles so far.

TO YELLOWSTONE

 I left Big Hole Nat'l Park and continued on to Yellowstone.  I was headed for the Albright Visitors Center where I could get my Passport stamped.

 

The Roosevelt Arch

I walked up to the Mammoth Hot Springs

The colors were beautiful, but it smells like sulphur.

The Visitors Center at Mammoth Springs

The Yellowstone Post Office

The Engineer's Office 

Then it was back to Gardiner, where I had dinner and spent the night.

I went 400 miles today, that's 879 miles so far.