Day 19
South Dakota is BEAUTIFUL! We slept in this morning. Starbucks is in the lobby of our hotel, so I put in a mobile order and Derek picked it up for us. We called down for the car and left for Mount Rushmore around 11:00. It took about 30 minutes to get there and park. It is free to see, but it costs $10 to park. When we got our ticket it came out blank... we would solve that mystery later. To get to the monument you just climb some stairs and bam! it's there!
We went to the gift shop after our pictures. I spent way too much money... but I got a George Washington bobble head! We had to pay for parking next. Since the ticket we got at the beginning was blank we just pushed "lost ticket" and then you pay and a new receipt spits out that is good for the year.
Our next stop was Custer State Park. Instead of following GPS, I followed a sign for the park. I'm not sure if that was the best idea or not but we were soon on a narrow road that barely fit 2 cars. It was a 45 minute drive through hairpin turns, 25-35 MPH roads, and climbing altitudes. We finally made it to Custer State Park and paid our fees to enter.
We took the Wildlife Loop road first. We were looking for buffalo. Derek really wanted to see buffalo and this was our best bet. We did end up finding buffalo as they crossed in front of our car!
After the wildlife loop we headed for Needles Highway. This is another narrow road into the hills. Although it was a little scary to drive we found some spectacular views!
Once we got back to Rapid City we dropped off our cooler and souvenirs and headed to dinner. We stopped at a few nerdy stores that had old video games, comics and old collectables. We then went to Firehouse Brewing Co. for dinner. We tried their root beer. It was good with hints of licorice. After dinner went to a local cookie place and bought some cookies for the road. Each cookie is about 4 oz and they are HUGE! The place is called Mary's Mountain Cookies.
South Dakota has been a blast but it is time to head home tomorrow. I can't believe it has been almost 3 weeks since I left Texas. See everyone soon!
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