June 14. 2010 by Merilee.

June 14, 2010

Rapid City, SD

We explored the historic district of Rapid City today.  It was cold and rainy so the pics where not the greatest.   The city commissioned bronze statures for all 4 corners down main street.  It is a wonderful assortment of US Presidents, Indian heroes and national heroes.  Linda made friends with John Quincy Adams.

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June 9. 2010 by Merilee.

June 9, 2010

Hill City, SD

Well, the new bull bar has been installed on the Dynamax Grand Sport.  With all the driving we do out west in “open range” country, this will give us a degree of comfort.

(click on the pic to see a larger version)

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May 27. 2010 by Merilee.

Spearfish, SD

May 25, 2010

While waiting for the RV to be serviced today in Rapid City, we took a scenic drive to Sturgis (famous motorcycle rally town), Deadwood and Spearfish Canyon.  This is a pic of Bridal Viel Falls that was running very strong after days and nights of rain.  This one is for you, Jen.  The area mountains had an 8 foot snowfall on May 15th.    The canyon is very beautiful with unusual colors and rock formations.

Deadwood, on a slow Tuesday morning, was very interesting.  If you could suspend your disbelief for a moment, it would seem like an old west town in 1880.  The exception is of course all the casinos (with western storefronts) and shiny slot machines.  The old buildings were beautifully restored with great detail and colors. The cobblestone street was a scenic touch.  I am quite certain that it would be a different story during the Sturgis motorcycle rally.

As I mentioned the weather in South Dakota has been unusually cold and rainy.  We have done a little sight seeing but mostly enjoying one of our favorite rv resorts in the Black Hills.

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August 6. 2009 by Merilee.

Madison, SD

8/5/09

The corn and soybeans fields of SD are amazingly green this year.  Seems they have had a lot of rain this year!  We are enjoying our “tourist hat” in Mitchell SD.  The Corn Palace is a true landmark for this town since 1892.  It is redecorated with new corn designs each year and takes 250,000 bushels of corn and other grains. The trim and frames are made from over 3,000 bushels of milo, rye, oat heads, and sour dock that are tied in bundles and attached to the building.  Over a half million ears of corn are sawed in half and nailed to the building following patterns created by local artists.  Twelve colors of corn are grown at separate farms to maintain the color integrity.  It is considered the folk art wonder on the prairies of SD.  It is very well done and wonderful to see pictures of the buildings in years past.  The gift shop had everything CORN and I mean everything!  Great fun.

(click on the corn palace to see it large)

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