We have an early morning departure to watch the annual buffalo roundup at Custer State Park that occurs on the last Friday in September. (I wonder if the name irritates the native Americans. Apparently, the Battle at Little Big Horn was as shocking to that generation as Pearl Harbor and 9/11 was to future generations. Custer had ambition to be president. He had a...
Brenda was sick today so I had to go it alone. Here is what I learned and experienced.South Dakota AgricultureThis morning we received a presentation from a woman who owns a local ranch/farm. She provided this information: South Dakota is one of 11 states with only one area code – 605. Cows outnumber people in SD. USDA just now is working on standards for...
We were looking forward to learning more about the cold war, nuclear armament buildup and subsequent reduction of nuclear armament by both sides at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Visitor Center near Wall, SD. Unfortunately, our stop was too short, but it was very interesting as it talked about the missiles with nuclear warheads that we relied on for...
Today is the day!!! We are going to see Mount Rushmore in the morning and a program in the evening that ends with the National Anthem and lighting up the four heads. Mt Rushmore was conceived in the 1920’s to attract car tourists. The mood of the country was tense between north and south as a holdover from the Civil War, and the east coast was at odds with the...
We are starting the first day of our tour with Road Scholar. In the morning we visited the High Plains Western Heritage Center. This is a rare USA 40-star flag. It was when South Dakota and North Dakota became states on the same day. South Dakota is the fifth least populous state. There are nine Indian Reservations in this state. SD has the third highest population...
We leave Custer State Park to join our Road Scholar group. We stopped at the visitors center to see a film about the park narrated by Kevin Costner. I loved listening to this babbling brook. We drove right by Kennedy, Reagan, and George W. Bush. This truly is the land of the Presidents … heads at least!! There is a Presidents Heads Park outside of...
My High School Fight Song Hail to the Buffaloes, Cheer them along their way, Onward to Victory, May we win our game today. We’ll give a cheer for the Buffaloes, Long my they reign supreme, Shout til the echoes ring, For the Glory of our team. Rah! Rah! Rah! Sing-along with the GCHS Band Today is sunny but cold so we layer up to go on a buffalo jeep safari...
It’s up early for a quick road trip. First stop is the famous Wall Drug to get a glass of their famous ice water. There are signs throughout the USA and even around the world. They get more numerous the closer that you get. Rob gets a glass of cool clean water. Rob ordered their world famous roast beef sandwich and since I eat meatless, I ordered a garden...
In 1874 this gulch was uninhabited by the white man and was in Indian Territory. If a white man was here, he was trespassing based on the Treaty of Fort Laramie signed in 1868 and was prosecuted under Federal Law of the US Government. However, late in 1887, gold was found by two prospectors in what is now called Deadwood. They asked family and friends to come join...
There is a rainy weather forecast, but we plan to explore Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park, the only national park ever created to honor a president. I was most interested in the back story of T.R. and how this park came to be. It is a story of grief. I have been taking a griefshare class concerning the recent death of my father. My grief has been expressed...