Part One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Ten of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eleven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twelve of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Six of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eight of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nine of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Ten of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eleven of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twelve of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Thirteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Fourteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Fifteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Sixteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Sixteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Seventeen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Eighteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Nineteen of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty One of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Two of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Three of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Four of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Part Twenty Five of the Great Western Road Trip is HERE
Then we hit Rapid City, South Dakota as we headed out of the Black Hills National Forest.
We happened to go into their local Walmart to pick up some souvenirs(same stuff we saw in boutique gift shops in this area but at much lower prices-we're no dummies lol).
While wandering around the store to find the souvenir area was saw a separate area which could be closed off where they were selling all kinds of hard liquor. That particular day one of the then Master Distillers for Jack Daniel's was making a guest appearance(ok Rapid City is not a hot spot for tourists, except when Bike Week in Sturgis is going on). He was signing bottles of JD when you bought one or ten. Interesting but Hubs is strictly a George Dickel whiskey fan and not fond of Jack.
We found the small souvenir section. they had Mt. Rushmore mugs.....
And this strange and poorly painted cheap salt and pepper set in a wire basket the likenesses of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jack on them. I could hear the both of them rolling over in their graves back in Deadwood from the Walmart. 8-)))
That very same salt and pepper set was being sold at the gift shop next to the Mt. Moriah Cemetery in a bougie gift shop for double what Walmart was selling it for.
That very same salt and pepper set was being sold at the gift shop next to the Mt. Moriah Cemetery in a bougie gift shop for double what Walmart was selling it for.
Of course there were the obligatory knives shaped like shotgun shells with South Dakota written across them.
And various shot glasses(for your Jack Daniels I suppose), with "The Badlands" emblazoned on them.
In hindsight I should have picked up this Ren & Stimpy t-shirt for my brother....sigh
This t-shirt was amusing too. Mmmm....bacon! I don't think eating all the bacon is a "snaccident" though, more of a well thought out plan. lol
We stopped for a quick lunch at an Arby's near the Walmart(Jamocha shake and seasoned curly fries anyone?)before leaving the tiny metropolis of Rapid City, South Dakota and heading South.
Loads of bikers on the road around here. We came upon a biker accident. See the ambulance on the left side and there is a state trooper standing next to his patrol car on the far right off the road. See the backside of a woman walking toward the accident in the ditch by the road in the center of the photo? As we rode by we could see a geriatric motorcyclist laying in that ditch with a huge expensive bike next to him mangled up. You could see skid marks from the tires on the roadway as you got closer leading into that ditch. It didn't appear to be a 2 vehicle accident, but a case of that biker losing control and crashing into the ditch. At his age, well, the age he appeared from our car window, he could have had a medical emergency like a heart attack or something. I prayed that he would be ok but we continued on as there was no aid we could offer in this situation.
Pop up shops along the highway with bikers hanging around. Vendors selling merchandise appealing to all the bikers driving by going to Sturgis for the Bike Week Rally.
More Bikers and Vendors on the side of the highway. Between all the traffic on the road and in Deadwood I've never seen so many motorcycles in my life!
A Smokey the Bear fire danger sign along side a "Motorcycles Use Extreme Caution" sign. Ummmm, after seeing the wipeout North of here, maybe they need more of those signs during Bike Week?
Another bighorn sheep warning sign. Didn't catch a glimpse of any though.
Going through a tiny town called "Hill City". More motorcycles on the road.....this is the theme of the day evidently.
Some touristy attraction called "Bear Country U.S.A.". Alas it was closed. Not like we haven't seen bears up close and personal in the wild so we moved on.
Billboards for Mt. Rushmore and other fun activities ahead, like Mine tours(no thanks!)and Gold Panning.
Then the road ran through this natural tunnel formation.
And just like that we were entering Keystone SD, or rather the outskirts of Keystone, another touristy area.
Congestion on the main road through Keystone......
And of course......more BIKES! lol
They had painted fake bison statues here, all painted up. This one was up on a platform above the entrance to a building and was painted with horses fording a stream.
South Dakota that was taken over during Bike Week.
"Teddy's Deli" as in Theodore Roosevelt. Old Rough and Ready himself would feel at home in SD, not necessarily in these tacky tourist towns. ;-)
Another row of little shops dubbed the Keystone Mall, in the Keystone area selling Subway, Dairy Queen, Fudge, Holy Terror Brain Coffee and I don't know what else!
And we finally made it to Mt. Rushmore. Of course I had to have my picture taken in front of the Parks Department's massive sign there. Hubs wouldn't even get out of the car so some foreign tourists took my picture for me and I reciprocated and took their photos with the sign.
I couldn't help but think about the local native Americans and how they looked upon this desecration of their sacred mountains.
To be continued next time.
Sluggy
I remember when Florida used to have tacky cheap tourists towns back in the 70’s. Now they are still tacky but $$$$$. I know this is South Dakota but they reminded me of those little towns but with different surroundings. Some day I will go…. Cindy in the South
ReplyDeleteIt seems you could not point a camera without catching a biker or bikes. I have a friend who is into bikers. I should show her this post. She would be there in a minute.
ReplyDeleteMy snaccident would involve chocolate. I have had bacon in chocolate, so that is out. Nasty.
I love the scenery--breathtaking.