Start of the national parks phase

So i left Omaha to drive to Sioux Falls.

First stop for breakfast at what turned out to be one of those typical US diners. Friendly staff, traditional food and reasonable value for money. Slightly puts Little Chef to shame.

I then stopped at a couple of small state parks to take in the scenery and break the journey  before arriving at Sioux Falls early afternoon.

At Sioux Falls, there was clearly one thing i needed to check out which were the Falls themselves. Well protected and small visitor/cafe made it a good location in the afternoon sun. Whilst i was there i checked out local events showing on google maps and it indicated a free municipal band concert that evening. So i went along to the "sound of the 80's" played enthusiastically by a pretty decent local band. This is apparently a weekly occurrence during the summer and seemed to reflect a strong local community focus.

Next day was a drive to Munro. On the way i took a number of diversions:

Dakota Discovery Museum - small museum which appeared to be part of college campus. i was the only one there, and i would be surprised if the $7 entrance fee per person would keep it going. Interesting background on local area, relationship between native Indian  Americans and American pioneers and local artist exhibitions

South Dakota Hall of Fame - a concept which is alien to UK but seems prevalent in lots of states and of course sports.  Obviously the names meant nothing to me, but interesting to see what type of success they wanted to celebrate

Akta Lokata Museum - really interesting, part of boarding school which was established for Indian Americans by catholic church. Originally with government subsidy, it continues primarily through charitable support as government switched teaching methods to day schools. Well put together museum, with video remembrances from pupils and staff (mostly clergy until more recent years).

I arrived in time to check out the "1880 Town" which had been advertised on countless billboards along the journey.  Its a mock western town, comprising of all the outlets you would expect. Apparently it was used in Dances with Wolves, a fact it played on quite a bit, including photos of various members of the Costner family around the set.

Next day sees a drive to keystone where i would stay for 2 nights. A short journey enabled me to spend a number of hours at Badlands National Park, an amazing combination of rock formations and canyons. Created through erosion since the area was originally sea around 70 million years ago and then transformed over time to wetlands and then the prairies of today. Stunning views and interesting visitor centres.

my full day at Keystone was in order to take in Mount Rushmore and Wind Cave National Park. Unfortunately the latter was closed due to maintenance work on the lift down to the caves.

You obviously know what you are going to see at Mount Rushmore but it was actually smaller than i expected and whilst really enjoyable i spent less time there than i expected (partly also because visitor centre was closed). That gave me time to view Custer State park which is a combination of prairies and forests and includes a number of scenic drives, including a wildlife loop, Managed to see a variety of wildlife including bison, deer and wild donkeys (although they seemed quite docile as they walked on/off the road at one stage).

Final part of the day was Bear Country USA, a wildlife park where you drive around a number of enclosures. I struggle sometimes with zoos/wildlife parks and whether they really add to the conservation agenda, and crawling around the park in a slow moving convoy of cars i did wonder what the fumes would be doing to the animals.

New photos have been added here:

Omaha to Sioux Falls
Dakota Discovery Museum
South Dakota Hall of Fame
Akta Lokata Museum
1880 Town
Badlands National Park
Mount Rushmore
Custer  State Park
US Sundry

Bear Country USA

Updated list of States travelled through so far:

Massachusetts
Connecticut
New York
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Pennsylvania again
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
Iowa
Nebraska
Iowa again (just walked over the bridge)
Nebraska (back over bridge)
Iowa again
South Dakota (where i changed time zone within the state as we went to Mountain Time Zone)

Updated car music list (trying to keep a US theme although my music library might struggle to keep going for the whole trip) :

Bruce Springstein
10,000 Maniacs
Suzanne Vega
R.E.M
Fleetwood Mac
Alanis Morrisette
Cornelius Brothers
Tracy Chapman
Dean Martin
Talking Heads
Hootie and the Blowfish
Meat Loaf