Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Phase 3: South Dakota (Custer State Park/Badlands Nat'l Park)

Well, when I upload my pictures onto my blog, it rearranges them in a different order, so I'll just talk about each one as they appear.

We camped out at Custer State Park for the 2 nights while we were in South Dakota. The park was very beautiful, with dozens of lakes, and a beautiful, scenic road (Needles Highway) that cut straight through the park.

Here is Grant with Watley at one of the lakes. It was Watley's first time swimming! He didn't like it very much at all.
We were also able to visit Badlands National Park. If we had never lived in the Southwest, and seen the Painted Desert, we probably would've been more in awe of it. But, it was very similar to the Painted Desert, which we've been to a couple of times.
When you're driving along I-90, approaching Mitchell, South Dakota, you see about a million signs advertising the Corn Palace. So, we felt obligated to see it. Funny thing was, when you take the exit, there's no signs telling you which way to go. I didn't know what to expect. I was imagining a great palace in the middle of a corn field made out of nothing but corn. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed to find that it was in the middle of town, and not at all made out of corn, but only decorated with corn. We found out that the domes on top are made out of styrofoam.
Okay, back to Custer State Park. Our campsite was near Sylvan Lake, so we walked to the lake close to sunset and got some incredible pictures!
And this picture is especially for Mrs. J, who refers to Watley as "Deery Lou," and compares him to a deer. As soon as I saw him drinking the lake water, I grabbed the camera with Mrs. J in mind. "As the deer panteth for the water...."

We immensely enjoyed our time in South Dakota. There's so much beauty and variety, it reminded me of our long lost state of New Mexico!

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:02 AM

    I love the b&w pic. You got some awesome scenery pics on your trip.

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  2. Anonymous7:18 AM

    Did you see any crazy boulderers or climbers in and around sylvan lake? That is one of the top spots for granite climbing in the country. We miss you guys!

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  3. Anonymous7:43 AM

    We miss y'all too! No, we didn't see anyone climbing, but we were there right around sunset. I didn't know that it was a popular place to climb!

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  4. Anonymous10:26 AM

    Yeah, we are totally missing on ya'll, but glad you're having fun!

    These pix remind me of the roadtrip I took 3-4 summers ago w/ my mom, Becca & grandpa. We made all those stops--is Waldrug or whatever it is on here anywhere?

    And Watley SO looks like a little deer. Although in the swimming picture he looks like a trout. Una misses chasing him a lot. Though if it makes you feel better she was completely terrified of a friendly German shepherd at camp. She hid under things whenever he came into sight. There's always a bigger dog...

    P.S. I'll let you know if Mondo Cane comes out with any more specials!

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  5. Anonymous1:22 PM

    Mondo Cane is the greatest flick EVER! It's just so, so...shocking!!!

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  6. Anonymous7:47 AM

    I've been battling a hankering for some snake for dinner tonight. I wish I wouldn't have ever seen Mondo Cane, because it opened my eyes to so many culinary possibilities!

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  7. Anonymous2:28 PM

    Yes. And it's a good thing we're already married because some single folks have to go through some crazy social pairing rituals. Whether it's having to be chased by have-crazed women or just having to look like some weird Italian dude with a big chin, it's rough out there for single men today.

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