4- Custer State Park, SD

From Grand Forks, we drove (and drove and drove) through miles of fields in SD.  We had a reservation at a campground in Custer, SD for July 23, 2010.  We needed to get in and out before the Harley-Davidson gathering at Sturgis, SD, which spills over to Custer.

Our retired friends from St. Petersburg, Barbara and Doug, volunteer at Custer State Park, and we met up with them.  The first evening, they invited us to a Wild Game Feast at the park, which was venison, elk, wild turkey, prairie hen, goose, duck, northern pike, and walleye.  OK, I choose not to think about the source so it was (almost) all very good. 

Over the course of a week, we:

• Saw Mt. Rushmore
• Scouted the park for wildlife
• Went to Lead, Deadwood, Sturgis and Belle Fouche (the geographical center of US to include AK and HI), SD
• Went to the Badlands and museums

It's truly an outstanding area (if you can ignore the rest of SD). 

Mt. Rushmore at a distance and a Beggin' Burro

Sturgis, SD -- The biggest motorcycle gathering in US August any year

Belle Fouche, SD -- Geographical Center of US

Also in the area, for which the Lakota Indians are fervent, is a huge memorial to an Indian warrior to represent them all, Crazy Horse.  The scale on which this is being built (from the '50's on with the builder & family) is monumental. 

Needles Hwy Custer St. Park, SD

Barb got the memo

Paul, Donna, Monkey, and the Bark Ranger Dog