Day 3: Wildlife at Large

Day 3: Mile 710, Kadoka, SD

After google maps led us astray, we found our hotel in Kadoka SD. It’s a tiny town of about 650 people. While clean, our hotel made me a little nervous… especially since our door didn’t seem to close all the way. Needing a beer/ wine/ whatever was available (you would too if you have seen the movie Vacancy), we made our way outside to find food and beverage. We were accosted by an elderly couple from Arkansas who insisted we go to Club 27 for the prime rib special. With no other recommendations …

This “restaurant” was the only one in sight

We took the couple’s advice.  Dinner was great.  We were among the limited number of guests not wearing cowboy hats.

James tried the local beer.

After loading up with gas, we woke up early this morning to head out on our Badlands/ Mount Rushmore Adventure.

Gas Station Picture

Mile 750: Badlands National Park

Beautiful scenery as far as the eyes could see. We stop at the first scenic overlook.

This is my first picture after getting out of the car. I was scared. James said “don’t worry, a lot more people are injured by buffalo each year than by rattlesnakes.” Phew! Later you will need to note this as the literary tool known as foreshadowing.

Here is where the trip gets interesting. We begin to encounter a variety of wildlife (please note the title of this post. Another example of foreshadowing).

These mule deer jolted out in front of us. Good thing I was driving like a Grandma.

Big horned sheep crossing the road 

OMG! Buffalo in the field. We were so excited to see a wild buffalo. We thought this was the coolest thing ever. We were careful not to get too close as they can charge if they get scared. The park rangers recommend staying 100 feet away.

Mile 786: Robert’s Prairie Dog Town

We then looped around to Robert’s Prairie Dog Town. I wasn’t really sure where we were going, but James really wanted to stop there. I thought it was some kind of themed attraction. We aren’t always the best at communicating. It was a large prairie filled with prairie dogs.

These are prairie dogs. They were everywhere  

As we were driving out of prairie dog town, we saw a big fox.

After all the nature and excitement, we were starving. We decided to head to Rapid City (the 2^nd biggest city in SD) for lunch. It was only to be a 5 mile drive on the dirt road before we hit a highway. We were expecting to be in Rapid City in just about 45 minutes. Until… the buffalo decided they wanted to share the road.

They just hung out on the road… and looked around… and sat there… and… I had to eat a granola bar. They were not planning to move … ever. See video below. If you only have time for one video. Skip to the 2nd. They are big files, so you may not be able to view from your mobile device. 

So, James put the 4runner to work and we off-roaded around the buffalo. It was scary.

We were relieved  the adventure has passed.  Only a 20 minute delay and we were back on the dirt road that would lead us to the highway that would take us to Rapid City. Until… ANOTHER herd of buffalo decided to share the road. Check out out youtube link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU78YmsT-Ds&feature=youtu.be

We are going to starve to death. They just kept coming on the road.

Once we passed the buffalo, we were back on our way to lunch. It was just another 20 minute delay.

We passed this really interesting river that looked like coffee with cream. 

More dirt road

Finally we hit the highway!

Mile 819: Random Dinosaur

Not sure what this dinosaur was about 

Mile 819: Rapid City

Ahhh. Civilization. We stopped for lunch at a place called Philly Ted’s Cheezsteaks. It’s no Geno’s, Pat’s or Jim’s, but it was quite delicious.

Lunch at Philly Ted's

Coming back from lunch, we noticed the dirt attached to the car as a result of our off roading adventure with the buffalo

Mile 875: Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore seems like the Times Square of South Dakota. The few miles leading up to the Memorial, the parking lot, the entrance, are all teaming with tourists and cheesy attractions.

Tourist City as we head into the Mount Rushmore Memorial  

Mount Rushmore

We took our photographs and quickly departed from the site. It is only a 45 minute drive to our next stop… Custer State Park.  More to come on Custer State Park tomorrow.