4 other spelunking tours

Posted on September 2, 2014 by liv2rv

The Black Hills area offers six different cave sites for your spelunking pleasure. We were fortunate to have enough time to visit all six. If you have limited time, we would recommend Wind Cave and Jewel Cave, both operated by the National Park Service. We have previously blogged on those caves. Now we will catch up on the other four.

Wonderland Cave

Of the four privately owned caves, we enjoyed Wonderland Cave the most. The cave is located near Nemo.

we found Nemo!!

The cave was discovered in 1929 when two brothers were searching for their lost dog. They could hear the dog barking, and followed the sound into a hole and discovered the cave. The cave is on land owned by the U.S. Forest Service, and in the 1930’s, the Civilian Conservation Corps worked on exploring and mapping the cave, along with constructing the steps and paths in the cave. It is surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Wonderland Cave

The cave has only had two owners, which run the cave tours through a special use permit from the USFS. As such, the cave is fairly well-preserved. This cave is a “wet” cave, and has the only living Helictites formation in the area.

Helictites

We have never seen this type of formation before. Helictites are found in limestone caves and are believed to have a capillary system. The formation starts out as a stalactite, but over time the growth may twist and turn, defying gravity. The one we saw was growing out and up. Our tour guide stated the dark spot was “the spine”.

stalactites, stalagmites and columns

The cave also has examples of Boxwork, dog tooth spar crystals, flowstone, and many stalagmites and stalactites, along with the columns that occur when they reach each other. We also saw an example of frost work, which can be seen in some of the other park service caves, but not on the basic tours. They do not have a light on it, to keep it preserved, but our tour guide did point it out with a flashlight. We did this tour at the end of August, as we were more “ho-hum” after seeing the other privately owned caves. This cave is certainly worth a visit (cost $14.50, and yes Madge, it was free with VIP pass). Our tour was about 90 minutes, but we are not sure if this is a typical length of time. There was a newspaper reporter with us, and the manager was giving the tour, so we felt we lucked into getting a more detailed tour. And it was just the four of us, which made for an even better experience.

Black Hills Caverns

The brochure for the Black Hills Caverns, discovered in 1882 by gold miners, and established as a tourist attraction in 1939, advertises itself as having the most complete formations of any cave in the Black Hills. However, we did not see any frost crystals or helictites on our tour (but they do have samples on display in their gift shop area).

here they are!

Black Hills Caverns ($12.50 for adults, free with VIP pass) has very large rooms, a lot of flowstone, narrow passages and lots of stairs to go up and down. The tour lasts 60 minutes.

large rooms

narrow passages on stairs

Flowstone “river”

Rushmore Cave

Rushmore Cave was discovered in 1876 when the Black Hills Mining Company was working nearby, and built a flume for their water on the hillside, for their mining operations. The flume leaked, but the water did not run down the hill, but disappeared into it. The miners went in search of the water, and discovered the entrance to the cave. It opened to the public in 1927, and was named Rushmore Cave during the time Mount Rushmore was under construction. In the 1950’s, under new ownership, tours were given 24 hours a day. The wear and tear from all the public visits is evident in this cave, as it has so many broken stalactites.

broken stalactites

The cave has a lot of stairs to go up and down, amongst the smooth limestone walls.

smooth limestone walls

The cave has now been turned into a bigger amusement type attraction, with the addition of the Soaring Eagle Zipline Ride and the Gunslinger 7-D interactive theater. The zipline is more of a chairlift that goes down the hill and back up again. The ride lasts 90 seconds.

Zip line chair

The gunslinger attraction is more like something you would find at Disneyworld, as you sit in a chair with 3D glasses and shoot at the animation on the screen. We had fun doing this, but mainly it was because we were the only 2 people in the theater at the time (we did this in Mid-May, before the tourists arrived). The cost for all three activities (cave tour, zipline and Gunslinger Theater is $28.00, free with VIP pass). The cave tour itself is $12.00. The cave tour is the best of the three attractions.

Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns

Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns was the most disappointing of all the caves we have visited, as well as the most physically challenging of the cave tours. We would not recommend this tour. The cave was discovered in 1929 by a couple exploring the above ground cave on their property. It is believed that Sitting Bull camped in the above ground cave. Nearby is the entrance to the below ground cave. It is a very challenging, very steep descent to get down into the cave. And it is even more challenging to climb back up these same steep stairs when exiting the cave after a short 45 minute tour.

very steep stairs

They do have a nice display of dog-spar crystals.

dog-spar crystals

During the great flood of 1972 in Rapid City, this cave was flooded and the owners have not cleaned out the debris that remains. So there isn’t too much to see on this tour. Cost for adults is $12.00 (free with VIP pass). Our advice: save your money!

We enjoy visiting caves, and are looking forward to visiting Mammoth Cave in Kentucky this fall. So stay tuned for our review on that!

Quote for the day: “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure that you seek.” – Joseph Campbell

Crocidiles, Snakes and Lizards….oh my!

Posted on August 29, 2014 by liv2rv

If you love snakes, spiders, alligators, crocodiles and birds (and who doesn’t?!!), then Reptile Gardens, located just South of Rapid City, is a perfect place to spend an afternoon.

Hello!

Good to know

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Reptile Gardens has more species and sub-species of reptiles than any other zoo or park in the world. They offer several informative programs every day, on snakes, birds and a popular alligator/crocodile show. One of the more popular residents of Reptile Gardens is the giant tortoise. There are two species, Galapagos (which is endangered) and Aldabra (which is a threatened species). They average 500 pounds in weight, and 4 to 5 1/2 feet depending on the species. They are very gentle creatures, and it was fun getting to pet them.

making new friends!

These little ones seemed to be having some fun!

just playing around

The Sky Dome contains a tropical jungle with birds, lizards, and small turtles roaming around. It also has a beautiful display of tropical plants and flowers.

Reptile Gardens

They have several different species of Amazon and Macaw birds on display, that seemed quite happy with their surroundings, and were oblivious to us humans.

Macaw’s

The Alligator/Crocodile show is very popular, and educational as well. The handler discusses the difference between the two species, and will show you how to wrangle them, if you so desire!

don’t try this at home!

During the show, the handler comes out with a bucket of raw chicken legs, which they seem to enjoy and swallow whole.

yummy chicken!

At the end of the show, the handler goes around with Fluffy, their baby crocodile. Who can resist petting her?

petting a baby crocodile

They do have an exhibit of a Komodo Dragon, which is the largest lizard in the world. Males can reach up to 10 feet long. The Dragons will eat snakes, pigs and pesky tourists, according to the sign at the display.

Komodo Dragon

But the highlight of Reptile Gardens is their impressive display of snakes. What is the worlds most deadliest snake? According to Reptile Gardens, it is the Inland Taipan, as it has the most toxic venom of any snake known on the planet. However, because of its limited range of living in remote Australia, there are no known deaths from this snake. This snake was hiding out in the back of the display, so I was unable to get a good picture of it.

Inland Taipan

The Rough-Scaled Python, is considered to be the rarest snake in the world. It is non-venomous. The species were first found in 1976, but a second one was not located until 1983. They were found in Northern Australia, and Reptile Gardens was the first place to have, and to breed them, outside of Australia. They live in sandstone crevices and usually come out after dark to warm up on heat stored in the rocks.

Rough-scaled Python

The Boomslang, found in Tropical Africa south of the Sahara, is the most venomous rear-fanged snake in the world. The snake is able to open its mouth a full 180 degrees, to display its potent fangs.

Boomslang

The Black Mamba, found in Central and South Africa, is the second longest venomous snake in the world, growing up to 14 feet in length. If left untreated, 100% of Black Mamba snake bites are fatal. Just 2 drops of their venom is lethal, and a bite will usually deposit 15 drops. This snake just shed it’s skin, which was left in the cage on the left. The snake is sprawled out on the right side.

Black Mamba

The Australian Scrub Python, a non-venomous snake, is the largest species native to Australia. They can get up to 28 feet, although 16 feet is the norm. There are two snakes in the photo below, all wrapped up together. They are the only 2 in the United States.

Australian Scrub Python

The Anaconda, a non-venomous snake, is the largest, heaviest and second longest snake in existence. (the longest snake is the Reticulated Python) They can weigh up to 300 pounds, and grow 22 feet in length. The females have been known to eat smaller males!

Anaconda

The very large, non-venomous Burmese Python can lay up to 100 six-inch eggs. They are unusual in the reptile world in that they will incubate their eggs by coiling up around them, and raising their body temperature about 7 degrees.

Burmese Python

This is the skeleton of a Burmese Python, which contains 328 pairs of ribs and 400 vertebrae. It is estimated this snake weighed 150 pounds and was 19 feet in length.

Burmese Python Skeleton

The cost for Reptile Gardens is $16.50, which includes a pass allowing you to return all season.

Quote of the day: “Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river.” – Chinese Proverb

Yabba Dabba Doo!

Posted on August 22, 2014 by liv2rv

Custer, SD

We both grew up watching The Flintstones, which originally aired from 1960 – 1966, and then many years after in reruns on Saturday mornings. Custer, South Dakota has the Flintstones Camping and Theme Park and we were always curious about it, driving past it many times in town. Since we could receive free admission with our VIP passes (normally $10.00 per adult), we decided to check it out. This went into our “glad it was free” list, although we managed to have a ‘Yabba dabba doo, gay ole time’! It took us about 30 minutes to see everything in the park, so it is pretty overpriced for what you get (in our opinion).

We started out taking the train ride around the property.

all aboard!

And then entered Bedrock City, which is a re-creation of the buildings from the television series, along with a few new “attractions” found only in the Black Hills, such as “Barney Peak” (a play on Harney Peak)

Barney Peak

And Mount Rockmore (we still haven’t figured out who the person is on the far right, next to Dino)

Mount Rockmore

The park has Fred and Wilma’s house.

The Flinstones house

Dan was trying to take Fred’s car for a spin.

no keys, just foot pedals

Next door was The Rubble household of Barney and Betty.

The Rubbles

Barney has quite the aerodynamic sportster.

Dan decided to hang out with the girls.

Betty and Wilma

They have a downtown area, complete with movie theater, fire department, beauty parlor…

Downtown Bedrock

and the jail

Bedrock PD

After the buildings, there is a children’s playground area with swings, slides and stuff. I was talking with a few mothers that wished they would put this cartoon back on the air, and take off Sponge Bob. Their children had no idea who any of the characters are on The Flintstones. We agreed that their kids are missing out on a classic cartoon series.

a great tv show!

We did not see any of the camping section of the park, as it is well secluded from the road and the park.

Quote for the day: “Make it good Fred, I gotta tell Betty the same story.” – Barney Rubble

South Dakota Air and Space Museum

Posted on August 19, 2014 by liv2rv

Next door to Ellsworth Air Force Base in Box Elder, SD is the excellent South Dakota Air and Space Museum (free to everyone, donations happily accepted), which contains dozens of airplanes, helicopters and missiles both indoors and outdoors.

B-1B Lancer from the front

The exhibit includes planes that were flown out of the AFB, such as the B-52 Stratofortress, EC-135 Looking Glass, B-29 Superfortress, and the B-1B Lancer, which is currently in use at the base. There is an optional tour available of the base ($8, free with VIP pass). It was the first time we had been on an active military base, and we were happy to venture out with our friends Forrest and Mary for the tour. Our tour guide stated they normally do not put a “current model” out on display, but this plane had been heavily damaged, so they scraped it for parts, and placed it prominently on display in front of the museum.

B-1B Lancer

We were impressed by the massive size of the B-52 plane.

B-52 Stratofortress

It’s predecessor, the B-29 Superfortress, was also a great looking plane.

B-29 Superfortress

The EC-135 Looking Glass was another plane used at the base.

EC-135 Looking Glass

The photo below has the Nike-Ajax Missile in the center, the F-101 Voodoo on the far left, the C-47 Gooney Bird and the C-131 Samaritan on the far right.

Nike-Ajax Missile

More planes on display

various planes

The photo below has the T-38 Talon on the left, and the A-7 Corsair – II on the right.

The tour of the base was approximately one hour, with a stop at the Minuteman Missile Silo right on the base. Currently, there are over 3,000 people living on the base. At its peak, during the Cold War era, over 7,000 members were assigned to the base.

The AFB used to contain the 44th Missile Wing, which was in charge of the Minuteman Missile Sites. The base contains a silo that was used for training on all facets of the program. The first silo was installed in 1963 near Wall, SD. By the end of 1963, over 150 missile silos were dispersed across South Dakota. All training for the personnel was done at the AFB. The end of the cold war was reached in 1991, and the missiles were deactivated. The 44th Missile Wing was disbanded in 1994. You can read more on the history of the 44th and the Minuteman missiles here.

The missiles were brought to the sites using the maintenance vehicle below. The back-end of the vehicle would raise up and over the missile site in the ground, and they could lower the missile down into the silo.

maintenance vehicle

The next vehicle to arrive would contain the actual nuclear warhead and would also sit over the site. They would put covers down over the hole, and would complete work on the installation.

2nd maintenance vehicle

The entrance into the silo required a secure, double entry system.

double entry

Since this was a training facility, the officers grew tired of having to go down the hatches every day, so stairs were built at this silo.

We were able to look down into the silo at the missile.

maintenance opening

deactivated warhead

There are electrical components surrounding the silo.

electrical components

The museum also contained a display of the launch control center, which were capsules buried underground throughout South Dakota. Each center was in charge of 10 missile silos.

launch control center

The museum and tour of the base was an excellent and informative lesson in our military history. It is definitely a “must see” item if you come out to this area. There is also a Minuteman Missile Site and Launch Control Facility operated by the National Park Service about 60 miles East of the base. We have not yet visited that facility, but hope to do so before we leave this area in a few weeks. You are not able to go down into the missile silo at the park service facility, as they do not have stairs like the AFB had put in their training silo. But they do offer tours of the launch control facility on a first come-first served basis. And they are only able to take 6 people down at a time in the control center. So if you are interested in the missile site, it would be a good idea to tour the museum and Ellsworth Air Force Base as an alternative.

Quote for the day: “If you can walk away from a landing, it’s a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it’s an outstanding landing.” – Chuck Yeager

Sturgis Motorcycle Museum

Posted on August 11, 2014 by liv2rv

During our Sturgis visit, we spent about 45 minutes touring the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum. During the rally, admission to the museum is $10.00, free with our VIP pass. There are 2 levels of exhibits to the museum, and covers a brief history of motorcycles and the history of the Sturgis Rally.

Sturgis Motorcycle Museum

They have several dozen motorcycles on display, including many brands that we never heard of. In 1938, Indian Motorcycle Dealer J.C. “Pappy” Hoel and the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club held the first races in Sturgis. This became the basis for starting the Sturgis Rally in August. This is a 1938 Indian Chief.

1938 Indian Chief

Just 10 years later, the Indian Chief model:

1948 Indian Chief

Here are some earlier models of the Indian motorcycles:

1923 Big Chief

Indian motorcycles were very popular racing bikes, before Harley Davidson started producing racing models.

1911 Indian

In 1914 Harley Davidson started sponsoring motorcycle racing, and hired engineers with racing experience to come up with this “speedster”

1915 HD Board Track Racer

The Flying Merkel was known as one of the fastest racing bikes in its time.

1912 Flying Merkel

This chopper was built by OCC Choppers Paul Tuetel, and is supposed to mimic BIC’s Flex 4 razor (or so the sign says!)

BIC Flex 4 Chopper

Many motorcycles from other countries are on display as well.

lots of other brands

In 1949, the Indian motorcycle company tried to go with a more European style, to compete with the many imported motorcycles that were gaining popularity in the US.

1949 Indian Arrow

This motorcycle was designed specifically for London’s fog and rain. It can hold up to 4 people, and keep the riders relatively dry, due to the larger windshield and lower leg fairings.

1966 Matchless w/sidecar

Perhaps this is why people enjoy riding motorcycles so much?

Quote for the day: “Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.” – author unknown

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Posted on August 1, 2014 by liv2rv

After our first foggy visit to Mount Rushmore, we returned with our friends Forrest and Mary while they were in town. As you approach the memorial from Highway 244 out of Hill City, you enter past a turnout that displays a profile of George Washington. When we pulled in to the turnout, not a single person was looking up at George, and we quickly discovered what all the excitement was about. There were Rocky Mountain Goats on both sides of the roadway, We had these two right in the parking lot.

Mom and baby

And a more adventurous pair across the roadway into the hillside. These goats were introduced to the Black Hills in the 1920’s, and have adapted quite well to the area.

When Gutzon Borglum started carving Mount Rushmore, he originally planned to put Thomas Jefferson on the right side of Washington. After the workers started blocking out his face, it was discovered there was not enough good quality rock for carving, so they blew up what they hard started. As a result, it left a good profile of Washington.

profile of Washington

As you enter the memorial, you go through the Avenue of Flags, which has 56 flags representing all of the states and territories of the US. It also makes for a popular photo opportunity.

Dan, Forrest & Mary

The memorial has a Grand View Terrace, for excellent views of Mount Rushmore. Beneath the terrace if the Lincoln Borglum (named after the sculptors son), which contains a museum, theatre and bookstore. The museum has a photograph of what Mount Rushmore looked like prior to the construction.

prior to October 1927

After Gutzon Borglum died in 1941, his son Lincoln spent seven months working on the monument, but then Congress declared the monument complete on October 31, 1941 This is how the memorial looks today. The heads are 40 feet tall. (since we are working at Crazy Horse Memorial, I do have to note that all four heads of Mount Rushmore will fit on the side of Crazy Horse’s head!)

Mount Rushmore 7/2014

There is a walking path that takes you a little closer to the memorial, and down to the sculptors studio. In the studio, there is a 1/12th scale model of what Borglum had planned for Mount Rushmore. His plans were never completed. All of the Presidents were to be carved down to the waist.

1/12th scale model

The small museum near the visitors center has many photographs and articles that go into great detail on the history of the memorial. It also talks about the pointer device that was used to project the dimensions from the 1/12th scale model on to the mountain for carving. This photograph demonstrates an example of the pointer (Math is important!)

pointer device

We took the walking path around the memorial, and were able to get a nice photograph of the grand view terrace, and the amphitheater. They have a nightly lighting ceremony, which we plan on attending one of these nights. (admission to the memorial is free, but there is an $11.00 annual parking pass).

Grand View terrace & amphitheater

Mount Rushmore is a “must see” item if you are in the area.

Quote of the day: “Well, those figures were there for forty million years. All I had to do was dynamite 400,000 tons of granite to bring them into view.” – Gutzon Borglum

Jewel Cave National Park

Posted on July 28, 2014 by liv2rv

Last week we had a wonderful time visiting with Forrest and Mary, whom we met in Cedar Key, Florida. They are from Wisconsin, and are slowly making their way out to the Southwest, for the winter. We all managed to get many things off our ”bucket list” during their visit. Hopefully I can start getting caught up on my blogs, as I am very behind due to the lack of reliable internet.

Forrest & Mary in Jewel Cave

There are many cave tours available in the Black Hills area, and so far the two best ones (in our opinion) are operated by the National Park Service. We have previously visited Wind Cave National Park, and went with Forrest and Mary to Jewel Cave National Park.

Jewel Cave, Custer, SD

Jewel Cave was discovered around 1900 by two brothers, Frank and Albert Michaud, and their friend Charles Bush, when they heard some wind blowing into a hole in some rocks. They discovered a cave full of sparkling calcite crystals, and made a claim to this “jewel mine.” Soon they realized there were no valuable minerals in the cave, and turned it in to a tourist destination instead. Since “calcite crystal cave” doesn’t sound too exciting, they named the cave Jewel Cave. The National Park Service took over the cave in 1908 which has protected the cave.

calcite crystals

In 1959, Herb and Jan Conn were asked to join a cave expedition, and they spent the next 21 years discovering over 65 miles of additional passageways in the cave. After they retired in 1981, additional explorers have continued discovering and mapping additional passages. To date, over 170 miles of passageways have been discovered at Jewel Cave.

They offer four different cave tours, and we opted for the Scenic Tour, which is the most popular of the tours (and free with our VIP pass). At $12.00, it is an excellent value. The tour covers about 1/2 mile of the cave, in 1 hour and 20 minutes. You take an elevator down into the cave, and there are about 700 stairs to climb up/down. Of all the cave tours we have been on so far (still have several others to blog about), this would be the best tour for anyone who is claustrophobic, as this is a very wide open, cavernous cave.

Photography inside a cave is hard to do, because of the lighting, and lack of depth perception in photographs. To get an idea of the size of this cave, you can see the stairs in the photo below, showing how far down we will be going.

Jewel Cave

And then back up again to another area of the cave..

up through a narrow passage

Into a larger room of the cave.

cavernous area

This cave has several interesting formations. I thought this piece of flowstone looked like a brain.

“cave brain”

They call this very thin piece a soda straw.

soda straw

Curved pieces of calcite on inclined walls and ceilings create these interesting “curtains”.

curtains

This piece of “bacon” is over 20 feet long. It is also formed from calcite, but has magnesium in it as well, which provides the coloring. This was our favorite formation in the cave. Again, the photograph does not display the enormity and full color of this piece of “bacon”.

mmmm bacon!

Jewel Cave is well worth the visit if you are in the Black Hills. It is estimated that only 5% of Jewel Cave has been discovered, based on barometric pressure readings of the cave. Future generations will be able to continue enjoying new discoveries for years to come. Many visitors inquire about which cave to visit, Jewel Cave, or Wind Cave. If you have the time, I would recommend both, as they are very different. If you are short on time, or a bit claustrophobic, then stick with Jewel Cave. And in our opinion, the National Park Service has done an excellent job in taking care of and preserving both of these caves.

Quote for the day: “In the United States the best of our national scenery and our most interesting scientific and historic places are retained in public ownership, for the benefit and use of all people.” – Isabelle F. Story

A Bear Traffic Jam

Posted on July 16, 2014 by liv2rv

When you live life on the road, and are mobile, you really don’t pay much attention to the calendar. We look at the year in segments….a few months here, a few months there, and then winter in a warm place. So when we headed out on our day off to Bear Country USA, we completely forgot that it was the Fourth of July Holiday weekend. Until we pulled in to the entrance and were stuck in long lines…..!

Bear Country, Rapid City

Bear Country USA, a drive-thru wildlife park is about 8 miles South of Rapid City. Open since 1972, the park allows animals to roam free on over 200 acres, while us humans remain caged in our vehicles. The park has elk, wolves, reindeer, big horn sheep, rocky mountain goats, buffalo, and the largest privately owned group of American Black Bear. Each species is sectioned off from the others, in case they don’t ‘play nice’ with each other.

Bear Country is open from May to November, (the bears still hibernate for the winter), and costs $16.00 per adult (maximum charge of $60 per vehicle. (We received free admission with our VIP pass).

The tour starts with a drive through the Rocky Mountain Elk area, which has many beautiful Elk, including this guy, just lounging right by the side of the road. This is the first time I have seen Elk, and they are quite an impressive animal.

A beautiful Elk

We encountered several Arctic Wolves in the next section, including this one licking its chops as it walked past my window. I opted to keep the window closed, so there is a bit of reflection on the photo.

keeping the window up tight!

When the wolf was at a safe distance, I rolled the window down for a better photo.

Arctic Wolf

Although we didn’t see Rudolph, there were quite a few Reindeer, counting down the days until they have to go back to work at the North Pole.

is this Dasher or Dancer?

They had some very beautiful Big Horn Sheep, including this big guy…

Big Horn Sheep

And this one as well, happy to pose for photos, it seems.

hello!

The Rocky Mountain Goats were busy snoozing.

Rocky Mountain Goat

And then we entered the Black Bear area, where you are not permitted to roll down your window (actually you are not supposed to do it in the other areas), and they have a person with a shotgun stationed in a tower in the middle of the bear area, just in case something goes amiss.

free to roam

Mating season is May and June for bears, so we weren’t the only ones who forgot that it was July!

hmmmm

Black Bears can vary in color, from black, brown, cinnamon, blonde and white. In the wild, they live 10-15 years, but in captivity, 15-30 years is the norm. These three bears were causing quite a traffic jam in the park.

3 little bears

Signs in the bear area indicate you are supposed to continue driving slowly, and the bears will move out of your way. But it is a bit intimidating to have a large bear walking right in front of you!

bear crossing!

After exiting the drive-thru portion of the park, you can park and walk over to see an impressive looking Grizzly Bear. These bears are identified by the hump on their shoulder, which is from the large muscle used to strike with their paws and dig holes. They can run both uphill and downhill at speeds of 35 MPH, so don’t plan on outrunning one of these in the woods!

Grizzly Bear

Babyland has smaller animals, such as the state animal of Wisconsin, the Badger. Although they look cute, especially while sleeping, they can be quite mean. They are excellent diggers (the Badgers also had a nice basketball season, making it to the Final Four….oops, a bit off topic!)

The Badgers

The state animal for South Dakota is the Coyote, which adapts itself to both rural and urban settings. We hope to never encounter one of these, as they have a tendency to eat small animals.

cute coyote

They had several Red Foxes on display. Makena (our dog) was bred to hunt fox, although she is too afraid of most animals, so I am not sure what she would do if she spotted one of these cute little animals.

Mr. Red Fox

They had a few baby Pronghorns on display. Pronghorns are generally lumped in to the antelope or goat family, but they are neither. They are the sole survivor of an ancient species, and are only found in North America. They are the second fastest land animal, with a top speed of 60 MPH, and can sustain speeds of 30 MPH for several miles. Oddly, they crawl under a fence, instead of jumping over one.

Pronghorn

But the highlight of the Babyland area are the bear cubs. I took several videos of them running around. They are so cute! The cubs were born late January/early February. After three months with their mothers, the park weans them off and away from them, for their own protection. In the wild, only 40% of the cubs make it to one year, as many are harmed by the adult males.

playing in the tree

baby black bears

We both enjoyed the park, and would recommend this to anyone visiting the area.

Quote for the day: “Bears are not companions of men, but children of God, and His charity is broad enough for both…bears are made of the same dust as we, and breathe the same winds and drink of the same waters. A bears days are warmed by the same sun, his dwellings are overdomed by the same blue sky, and his life turns and ebbs with heart-pulsing’s like ours and was poured from the same fountain….” John Muir

Visiting museums in Keystone

Posted on July 1, 2014 by liv2rv

Dan and I both enjoy visiting museums, and our VIP pass covers many of them in the area. We opted to spend some time visiting two of them on our day off, Rushmore Borglum Story and The National Presidential Wax Museum, both in Keystone.

Many billboards advertising the Rushmore Borglum Museum state “best museum we saw in the USA”, so we had high hopes for this one. The museum is dedicated to the life of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore. Although very informative, it did not live up to its hype. The adult admission is $10.00 (free with VIP pass) which includes a hand-held audio device. You walk around the museum and punch in the code to each display, and there is a brief narrative on the items in the display case (photographs not permitted). At the end of the tour is a 20 minute movie that again goes over his life story. It took us about one hour to visit the museum. You are not allowed to take photographs of the exhibits.

Rushmore Borglum Story

Prior to Mt Rushmore, Borglum worked on Stone Mountain, in Georgia. He started carving that mountain, but got into a dispute and blasted off the images he had completed.

Borglum was a big fan of President Lincoln, even naming his son Lincoln. He did this statue of Lincoln that is on display in front of the museum.

hanging with Abe

THE NATIONAL PRESIDENTIAL WAX MUSEUM

After our visit with the Borglum Story, we headed over to the wax museum, and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of this museum. If you have any interest in the history of our presidents, this is a good museum to check out. Adult admission is $10 (free with VIP pass), which includes a hand-held audio device. You start watching a video that details how the figures are created, then go to each exhibit which has a lengthy description of the president(s) in the display, and what was happening in the country during their term. If you listen to every story, it will take about 90 minutes to get through the museum.

Presidential Wax museum

The museum covers every president, from the first…

George Washington

To the present…

Barack Obama

Some of the presidents are grouped together in displays, such as the five presidents who were never elected to the office of President. The five are grouped into two parts, the four who were elected to the Office of Vice-President (left to right – Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Alan Arthur, John Tyler).

The unelected presidents

And then there was Gerald Ford, the only man who not only was not elected as president, but was not elected to the office of vice president either. Ford became the first person appointed as vice president, under the terms of the 25th Amendment, after Spirow Agnew resigned.

Gerald Ford

You all remember our 9th President, right?

William Henry Harrison

He’s part of the reason for the creation of the 25th Amendment. William Henry Harrison was the first President to die in office. He refused to wear an overcoat during the inauguration, and died from complications relating to pneumonia, just 32 days after taking the oath. I guess when you only make it 32 days, you get a very small display in the museum!

Of the five original drafters of the Declaration of Independence, two became Presidents: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

drafting the Declaration of Independence

Grover Cleveland became the first President to marry during his term in office.

Grover Cleveland

William Howard Taft is the only man who was both the President (#27) and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (#10).

President & Supreme Court Chief Justice

They had a display on President Kennedy

Kennedy & John Jr

Along with a recreation of the scene on Air Force One where Lyndon B Johnson was sworn in as President, with Mrs. Kennedy, still in her blood soaked clothes, looking on. And did you know that Johnson was the only man to be elected as a Congressman, Senator, Vice-President and President?

Lyndon B Johnson

We were impressed by the quality of the wax figurines, with one exception. This display of Ronald Reagan with Mikhail Gorbachev. Reagan is just staring up and over his head. It seemed like he was going to be in another type of setting, and they just plunked him in this chair.

President Reagan

They also had a nice tribute to the first responders involved in the 9/11 tragedy.

9/11 tribute

After soaking up all this history, we worked up quite an appetite, so we headed out to the Circle B Chuckwagon and Cowboy Music Show, in Hill City. As part of our VIP pass, we received 50% off the dinner/show, which normally costs $26.00 – $30.00 depending on your choice of entrée. Although the food was good (we had the combo platter of beef, BBQ chicken and buffalo), we were glad it was half price! Unless you have children, I would not recommend getting there when the place opens at 4:00pm, as there is really nothing to do. They have a lot of activities for the kids, and there is a “shoot-out” at 5:20, with dinner starting at 5:30pm. The Cowboy Music Show starts a little after 6, and ends by 7:00pm. The musicians did put on a nice 45 minute show with some cowboy music and a few family style jokes.

The Chuckwagon show

Quote for the day: “No man who ever held the office of president would congratulate a friend on obtaining it.” – John Adams

Changing hours – more play time

Posted on June 26, 2014 by liv2rv

We are still plugging along with work in the gift shop at Crazy Horse Memorial. We were able to switch over to four ten-hour days, which will allow us more free time to play tourist, as well as keep up with laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning. For now, we will have off Wednesday thru Friday. With our new schedule, we will be able to do some things with Phil and Rudee on Wednesdays.

With our new day off, we went out to dinner and a play with Phil and Rudee. The Black Hills Playhouse, located in Custer State Park, is currently in its 69^th season providing plays and events in the park.

Black Hills Playhouse

Dan, Rudee and Phil

This season offers four plays that run for about 2 weeks each. With our VIP pass, we are able to see the dress rehearsal performance that occurs the evening before opening night.(tickets are normally $32.00 for adults) These are always on a Wednesday, so we will be able to see 3 out of the remaining 4 plays. We enjoyed the musical adaption of a 1911 children’s book, The Secret Garden. We were pleasantly surprised by the professional quality of the production, and look forward to the remaining two plays this season. If you are in the area, this would be a ‘must do’ item.

Of course, after our first week on the new schedule, they changed it up on us, and we ended up with a Sunday off. This allowed us to spend some time with Steve and Joan, learning some new card games, as well as joining in with a group of co-workers that go out for pizza on Sunday night in Custer.

Then our schedule changed back, and this past Wednesday we headed out to Hot Springs where Phil and Dan used their VIP pass on half-price golf at Southern Hills Golf Course, a very scenic and challenging course. Rudee and I opted for the more relaxing day at Evans Plunge, which is a natural spring of mineral water. The spring is now fully enclosed, and they have added two water slides, a ‘kiddie area’, rope swings, and a lap pool area. The spring is only 5 feet deep at the deepest portion, and the water is crystal clear, with a pebble rock bottom. This was another complimentary item on the VIP pass.

In the evening, we had reservations at Grand Magic in Custer, which was a fun, family-friendly magic show. (also free for us! Can you tell we like to do all the free items?!)

We also had some visitors this past few weeks. Pat and Diane, Amazon co-workers, stopped in at our park on their journey West for a few days. They found us on RVillage. Although we had to work, we did were able to spend a few hours catching up, and look forward to seeing them again this fall in Kentucky.

Gary and Pam, a couple that we met last June at a Heartland Owners Group rally, surprised us at work on a Saturday. They have been following our blog, and were coming through the area and stopped in. It was also fun catching up with them, and we will certainly see them down the road sometime, somewhere!

Quote for the day: “The world is round so that friendship may encircle it.” – Pierre Tielhard de Chardin

Liv2RV

Living and working around the country in a RV

Tag Archives: VIP Pass

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Visiting museums in Keystone

Changing hours – more play time