Stauffer's Global Gallivants: Devils Tower, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore & the Badlands

I became the drill sergeant mom, waking up the kids at 6:30 to shower, eat (they love hotel continental breakfast, something that definitely has to be a kid thing), and pack up. We headed to Devils Tower, and I decided I could live in that area. Wow, is it ever pristine and lovely. The tower truly was astonishing. We took several pictures from different vantage points and drove into the National Monument area, where there is a great prairie dog town. We had fun watching and listening to them. When we got to the base of the tower, we walked pretty close to it, but decided not to do one of the walking tours, as we had ambitions of seeing Deadwood and Mount Rushmore all today.

We drove on to Deadwood where we visited the Adams Museum, a museum started by an Adams family:-) at the turn of the 20th century. Of all the fascinating exhibits about the wild characters like Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, the girls were most excited by stuffed spaniels (you heard it, Fido), a stuffed fetal calf, and a stuffed two-headed calf. I found some engaging Native American artifacts to read more about later, like a "winter count."

Walking around Deadwood, we enjoyed the western town flavor and watched a reenactment of the murder of Wild Bill in the Number 10 Saloon. Avery wanted to volunteer as a helper from the audience but thought it might not be good to play someone who drank and gambled. I think she is wise. She had a big ice cream cone she was working on anyway.

After that adventure, we drove on to Mount Rushmore, a truly inspiring and magnificent site.

We ate dinner at a Bavarian Inn in Custer, where we were spending the night. Germans were one of the main groups to settle the Dakotas and Nebraska, bringing with them their good wheat. We tried all three of the chocolate cake varieties: German chocolate, triple chocolate, and black forest. We were enjoying them too much to take any photos.

The next morning we stopped at the Crazy Horse monument on our way to the Badlands. What an undertaking that is!

Wall Drug was our next stop for homemade ice cream, and then we toured the Badlands loop. It was 90 degrees, but dry, and the sun was high, making the photos a bit dull, but the scenery was truly spectacular. We could tell why the Indians called them the bad lands, because they would have been nearly impossible to navigate on foot and entirely avoided by horse.

One of our first views of Devils Tower (the apostrophe was left off in the initial application for National Monument-hood, and it was never changed) The kids were so excited, that we had to stop at the first scenic turn-out for a pic)

We swapped photo turns with another touristing family, something we got pretty good at on the trip.

Inside the monument's boundaries is a protected prairie dog town. These little critters were lots of fun to watch and listen to.

Kisses!

Wide view of the prairie dog town

June is the voluntary closure month for rock climbers, due to many sacred Native American ceremonies in the Black Hills and at Devils Tower. We liked the photos of the mountain naked and were happy we visited in June.

Randall and Amelia peeping down a prairie dog hole. They did run inside, though one could get really quite close to them.

From the back side by the visitor's center

Native Americans place little pouches and pieces of fabric on trees near the Tower, especially during June.

Off to Deadwood. After another picnic lunch we stopped at the Adams Museum, created by the Adams Family from Deadwood during the Victorian era. This was always a museum, and of all the fascinating things in there having to do with Deadwood history like Wild Bill and Calamity Jane, the girls were most fascinated by stuffed spaniels, a stuffed fetal calf, and a stuffed two-headed calf.

Deadwood City--all gambling halls and hotels. We found one deli where we could buy lunchmeat for sandwiches, because the closest grocery store was a few miles away in Lead.

Historic hotel

The kids on Main Street

An actor who played Wild Bill Hickock. We watched him get shot a bit later.

The Gutzon Borglam museum in Keystone was closed by the time we arrived, but the kids humored mom by posing at a copy of Borglam's Lincoln.

Avery wanted to take pics of each person. She did a pretty good job with Mom's camera.

Finally made it to Mount Rushmore, just as it started pouring. We only had to wait about 30 minutes for it to clear up.

The rain made streaks, and Amelia said it looked like the presidents had runny noses.

My two favorite Presidents

These kids are the best sports. They survived several museums in just a few days. This is at the museum at the Crazy Horse monument. Here they are admiring a decorated horse, though it is difficult to see all of it.