South dakota – The Travelling Ginger

Mother nature was in a much better mood and gave us blue skies for most of the day. I also finally had a full nights sleep and a bit of a lie in (lack of sleep = miserable ginge)

This morning was all about Custer State Park. As it’s coming to the end of the season, some of the trails were shut, however what we did see didn’t disappoint. This place is absolutely stunning. The fall colours against the vivid blue sky was magical. We had a lovely walk around one of the lakes which gave me lots of reflection shots. Nikon was definitely snap happy today.

Custer SP is a wildlife haven. I think I could easily spend a few days here with the Nikon hunting out the animals. We saw prairie dogs, white tailed deer, wild turkey, long horned antelope, begging burros and of course.. buffalo 🐃 these photos will follow when I get home (lucky you!!) if ever you get chance to come here, you must try and make a day of it.

After a beautiful morning we had a stroll around downtown Rapid City, and ended up back in the local brewery (thanks Santa) the sun was out and I was finally able to try and tan my ginger skin.

This evening we headed to Fort Hays, the site where Dances with Wolves was filmed, for a chuckwagon style dinner. This was fabulous! A tin plate with a baked potato, brisket and apple sauce just slapped on, followed by lemonade in a tin cup. After dinner we were treated to a show by the Fort Hays Wranglers with their Western Music Variety Show.

Tonight we’re sharing the hotel with a group of Germans. Thinking I should put my towel out now to reserve a place at breakfast 🍳

TTFN x

Mother nature was still in a bad mood today. Following a 4 hour drive (with a cheeky stop at a typical American ‘gas’ station) we arrived at Crazy Horse. Luckily I managed to grab a photo before the clouds decended and the work in progress monument was gone for the rest of the visit. I have to say, I wasn’t overly impressed and found the whole thing quite boring. It is basically a construction site; has been for years and will continue to be so for a very long time. The museum passed a bit of time, but this place really wasn’t for me.

On our drive to Mt Rushmore (somewhere I have been dying to see!) we were very lucky to see a couple of mountain goat (basically a sheep with long legs) thank God for the Nikon and the long lense.

Mt Rushmore didn’t disappoint (OK.. Blue sky would have been amazing but you can’t have everything) the detail and craftsmanship to go into all 4 presidents, they were just amazing. You can take a walk towards the bottom and look up at their faces to give you a different perspective and this is something I definitely recommend you make time for. How they managed to produce what they did, it’s so hard to believe. As well as the obvious, the surrounding area is also beautiful and a wildlife haven. We saw a variety of birds and I finally managed to photograph a chipmunk (once it stayed still!!)

Luckily the hotel tonight provided a happy (two) hour, for free! Wine in a plastic cup, classy as always.

TTFN x

SANTA’S SESH 🎅

Last night I had to show ID to get served, could not believe it, and I was one of the youngest on the table. Tonight we went to another local brewery… 620 b.c IIPA 7% really nice. Also had Procrastination Porter, unsure of %, very strong taste of burnt toast but still lovely.