Hot Springs, SD

the Morning was COLD! See your breath cold...I made a fast coffee and breakfast then headed down to Hot Springs to resupply and do laundry.  I found one with free WiFi, and I was able to upload photos and make a  blog post while sitting there waiting...and watching the dryer tumble...I would live in Hot Springs, only leave in winter!  Its a small town of about 3800 people, a lovely little Western town.  

                                                       Hot Springs and the Fall River 

 There is a fun looking quilt shop I was walking Casey so didn't go inside...I love the name, Heart Song

We walked down down the river walk along the Fall River,  and then across and down the main street...and back to the River walk and park.. and there is a falls in town!  The water is warm as this flows from a warm spring. 

Up on the Morning Sunshine Coffee shop is this Blue Bison 

And check out this colorful mural...love this I'd like a poster of it.  

 

And Wind Cave National Park is only 8 miles up the hill from town!  

The Red Sandstone on these buildings was quarried right in this area. 

City Hall building 1893

George Custer Painting in a store window 

and there is something else here of interest just up a ways out of the Historic District... 

The Mammoth Site! It is an actual archaeological dig in progress!  

You do have to pay an entrance fee to tour the dig area, Seniors is $9.  Inside you see numerous skeletons of  Woolly Mammoth and 

and Columbian Mammoths in the old sink hole where this dig is.  This building was built over the site!!

 

Lots of cool stuff to see! There is a guided tour and they explain what they are doing and answer questions...you have to go see it for yourself!

the Columbian is more like the elephant and much bigger than the woolly mammoth as these plywood displays show the size difference. 

a work in progress

I was thrilled! AND they had Turned Pennies in the gift shop they sold them already turned...so I was thrilled again!  I keep  hoping they will clone a woolly mammoth one day! 

Got my laundry done, got some food to keep me going, even got some fast food at Taco John's, and then headed back to Wind Cave and Elk Mountain Campground for another night.  Again it was cold! I met some more Aussie's when I walked Casey in the morning, they had a very unique rig..no photos but it was a tent atop a trailer and it had a galley kitchen that was open air, they said the storm of the night before had nearly flipped them! They both got out of the tent and jumped in their Jeep! It reminded me of this type rig..

https://www.facebook.com/naturefreaksusa/videos/

I did like it tho it was soooo cool, not for me as I do desire some creature comforts, like being able to step right out onto the ground...

I didn't want to leave Wind Cave there were areas I did not get to explore,  but dang it was cold I had to wear all the bells and whistles, scarf, gloves, ear muff and hoodie, heavy clothes all over... reminded me of my days off back in Brooklyn LoL...so South I went!

Next up Wounded Knee...but one more Bison for the road!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park's

SOUTH UNIT

(In real time I am closely following 2 things...the Presidential Election and the Standing Rock Pipeline Protest. I am still in shock that the Oregon Terrorists got NOT guilty verdicts???  They were not attacked by any  cops while they held a NWR hostage, and destroyed Federal Property while welding arms against the govt of the USA.... and a group of unarmed citizens who are exercising their right to protest are being abused and attacked by heavily armed police? Democracy is dying dead in America.) 

I really wanted to stay in Theodore's north unit a second night...but time had begun to close in on me...and the weather was getting colder every day! So time to head out of the cold north.

  

The South Unit is a nearly 70 mile drive, but it is an easy one, and I reached the entrance in just about an hour with plenty of time to see the sights and even some time to pull over and read this plaque before I left the area of the North Unit. 

I found this to be curious...and wondered if I could find out more about this cowboy...googled the name and came up with only the marker I saw! Then a check on Find A Grave scored his grave and memorial.  There is a discrepancy of his middle name...John or Howard?  Im going to ask my sis to find his obituary she is the top dog on finding the death cert and obit in our research! As I type she is on her way back home..miss her so much. :0(

                                        

 

(a tie-down on a horse is what I refer to as a martingale, it keeps the horse from tossing his head up too far, and not a good idea if you plan to JUMP very high a horse needs his entire body for balance)

There's actually 2 visitor centers at the south unit..one right off the Interstate 94 West Exit, that you get on for only 10 miles, and the other is inside the park just out of the touristy Western  town called Medora, ND. I didn't take any photos of either VC! But I got this herd of wild horses, the rangers call them feral horses...so I assume they were at one time ranch horses. 

I used the same strategy to get my campsite secured, at Cottonwood CG and in a bit of a drizzle I found one and paid my fee and hung my tag on the post...then off to sight see!   More horses but darn this tree got in the way of my photo of this sweet blue roan foal on the right. 

saw many prairie dogs all fat and in good condition, I had hopes of seeing burrowing owl in one of these burrows but no luck on that. 

  

Nice to see American Bison and Wild horses grazing together!

MANY awesome rock formations...with striking colors

the white rock looks like you could reach out and scoop it up right? ANK its solid as....well Rock!  And below is one of the many hikes I took, this one followed the ridge line, and I admired the cacti growing along the edges...

My feet got a good work out! And so did my jaw...it keep dropping at the scenery along the way...

Found a nice flock of wild turkey...

and more Bison and Prairie dogs!

The Little Missouri River Bend Trail gives one a great view of the Little Missouri...from the top of the ridge.  

Gorgeous  fall color, in the Dakotas, it peaked in mid Sept,  

This cabin is the Maltese Cross Cabin, it sits right behind the VC inside the park...TR lived in it but it was not on this site it has actually been moved all over the place! But this is where it sits now!

Slept great as the pitter patter of rain on the van roof serenaded my slumber all night long and in the morning Casey and I had to make our way through Medora in the pouring rain.  There is a wonderful outdoor  Musical here...but it was already closed for the season (June 3- Sept 10)  I would have enjoyed seeing that!

I took this shot off the web of the Musical..The Greatest Show in the West 

but this was my morning spent in Medora!

There's other interesting things in town too shopping, museums, hotels, and eateries. As well as the post office where I mailed my postcards to family and friends! Something I do every place I go...then we left town and it actually got worse!!

then Slowly but surely the further South on Hwy 85 toward South Dakota I drove the better it got...

And by the time I arrived in Belle Fourche, SD the sun was out I had to change into short pants, and stash all my flannel and fleece and remove my faux wool ear warmer and pin my hair up to stay cool!! From heat to AC in about 2 hrs time! So the claim to fame in Belle Fourche, SD is the Geographical Center of the Nation, now this includes Hawaii and Alaska as Smith Center Kansas claims the center of the continuous USA.

there's all 50 flags here...and no wind!

and on the grounds was Buckskin Johnny's Cabin 1876. 

It was nice to be back in the sunshine again after spending 7 chilly cold days in North Dakota. I can now say I've been to ND! And now I've returned to SD to see more of it as well! 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.