And on we go, the vacation is full of great wonders

Wednesday we had a very full day.  We started out by going to the Crazy Horse monument that is under construction.  It is quite an impressive undertaking.

 This is how it will look when it is finished.

 This is how it looks so far.  It is interesting to see how this large rock carving with dynamite and drilling in the right place.

 We were on to a scenic drive that included this beautiful lake, Lake Sylvan.  We stopped and decided to do the little walk around the lake.  It didn't look too far and as you may remember, we had ice cream for dinner the night before so a long walk was a good idea.

 It really was only a mile walk but it was up and down and around some large rocks.  It was very worthwhile though.  It felt good to get some exercise, the weather was  perfect and we just enjoyed the beauty of the moment.

 We had some beautiful views on our little walk.

 Next we drove along Needles Highway.  It is famous for its rock formations that stick up in the air and the passages cut through the rocks on the road.

 That little square between the two rocks is the hole cut in the rocks.  It was a winding road but it was a beautiful drive.  We drive slow and enjoy the beauty of the nature around us.  Isn't that what vacation is all about?

 While driving through Custer State Park we came across some bison and some pronghorn deer.  We have been seeing a lot of wildlife.  So far we saw a mountain goat, bison, pronghorn deer, turkeys,white tail deer and prairie dogs.  We haven't come across any rattle snakes so we are thankful for that.

 Then we visited Wind Cave.  It is noted for the wind that blows through it and the 'box' formations in the rocks in the ceiling,  The pictures really don't do this formation justice but it was great to visit the cave.  Neither of us have ever been in a cave before so a great new experience.  There was another cave further west that was a bit more traditional but we thought one cave was enough.

 Our tour was about an hour and 15 minutes.  We were a little 'bummed' because we thought that we were missing the big debate between the presidential candidates but we made it back to the hotel in time to have a quick dinner and still catch the debates.  I'm not sure it was worthwhile but we wanted to keep informed.

 This morning we work up to snow in the mountains.  We were heading north and kept seeing cars with lots of snow on them.  We headed north to Sturgis where Bud wanted to check out the town where they hold the famous motorcycle rally every year.  We had a great lunch and then visited the Harley Davidson shop.  I took a picture but I must have messed up the numbers when I was uploading them.  

 The last scenic drive we took was from Sturgis to Spearfish along a beautiful canyon road.  The lady at the information center told us about the waterfalls that we would see along the route.  We managed to find one of them and I am sure that it is the most beautiful one As you can see, there is a lot of snow on the trees around this waterfalls.  We had warm enough clothes so we just did a little walking around on the trail to see all of the falls.

 Bud is that little blue speck along the path.  It was quite a sight with the snow on the evergreens, the gold colors of the aspen trees, the gray rocks of the canyons and the waterfalls.  Not your typical view for this time of year but still very spectacular.

OK, so I messed up with the pictures again but this is a picture of the 'box' formations that we saw in the cave.  It is a better picture.

We are marveling today at how much we managed to see in the few short days we have been traveling.  It seems like it was longer than 6 days ago that we left Michigan.  We have packed a lot of activities into this short time but have enjoyed all of it.  I did some research on the Internet before coming so we had kind of a plan but really didn't know how it would turn out.  We are having a great time.  We are not having to fight summer time crowds, the roads are fairly quiet so we can go slow and enjoy the drive.  Some places  have closed for the season but we have managed to always find some place to sleep and places to eat.  We hadn't counted on the snow but it hasn't been a problem for us.  Tomorrow we head north again to Dickinson to visit Glen and Penny and the girls.  We are looking forward to seeing Amy and Myria.  I haven't seen them since I came out here with Leo a couple of years ago.  We will stay through the weekend and take off Sunday evening.  We may visit Door County, Wisconsin on the way home, depending on the weather and timing
I will keep you posted on our travels.  I hope the snow doesn't make it to Michigan just yet.