Deadwood & the Badlands

Driving down the motorway, you see lots of billboards. Everyone is advertising something, or giving some snippet of knowledge. I came across the below quote:

Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. John Muir

That’s truly what I feel like, having spend a couple days admiring Gods handiwork in nature.

Leaving the Rocky Mountains I did not think anything would top that beautiful scenery, see the pictures I shared in the previous post. We made our way slowly north east, towards Custer State Park and Deadwood. A little drive from the town of Deadwood we stumbled across Crazy Horse, the Indian sculpture in process. I could not remember this statue was so close to where we would stay the night… but now I felt we had to make a tiny detour and also see Mount Rushmore….evidence below…

Deadwood was not how I remembered it from a couple years ago. It was dead… only casinos livening up the atmosphere a little. Not really my scene. No music, no dancing, no re-enactments… clearly still winter season. At least the food was very good in one of the Steakhouses ‘ Legends’!

The next morning we needed to leave early to make it back to Minnesota at a decent hour. After all, I have to work again on Wednesday! We set off through the beautiful Black Hills and decided to stop at Wall. Probably a must do stop on the very long and straight I90. Also quiet, as it was not in the tourist season… but still, stretching the legs in beautiful sunshine was worth it!

Next unexpected detour: a drive through the South Dakota Badlands. Mesmerising, legends encouraging, beautiful scenery. A bonus to see long horn goats, mountain goats, deer and prairie dogs. So glad we took that small detour!

Have now arrived home, ready to sleep… a clean spirit as John Muir stated in the quote above.

America, you truly have such awe inspiring nature! I feel so blessed to have been able to see more. Below a few shots….

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