Day 39– Monday 17th June 2013. – Fort Robinson, Nebraska – Mammoth, SD – Rapid City – Bandlands NP, South Dakota. – 242 Miles

Woke at 5.30 am to the sound of thunder. I nearly hit my head on the roof of the van because it was so loud I jumped up.
The sky was turning red and lightening everywhere as the storm approached. We got our cameras our and took a few photos before the rain started.



We managed to keep ahead of it but it finally caught us as we crossed into South Dakota.



Our Early start got us to Mammoth and the Mammoth Museum just before opening. Being first in line we had the first tour. It has to be one of the best places we visited and to be an actual dig site made it better. Just seeing how the animals were trapped over the years is amazing and to be able to see the Mammoths where they actually died and still remain today.
We spent a few enjoyable hours before leaving and heading towards Rapid City.



First stop was Crazy Horse Monument. What a great monument in progress. I would love to go back and see it again when it is finished. A very busy and popular place with all the car parks near full to capacity.
Just wandering around the museum and watching the film of the early das is just amazing. Its good to see the family continuing on with the dream of one day finishing it. Even better is funded by the owners. Another Monument ticked off the to do list.







The storm clouds from early this morning were again catching up with us and the rain wasn’t far away again.

Next stop Mount Rushmore. Our GPS got us to the entrance without any trouble. Unlike Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore was near impossible to see from anywhere outside the main gates. It wasn’t until we were inside and walking through the main entrance that we could see the monument.
I suppose it a way of getting the people in to see it.

Although a very spectacular monument it didn’t have the same effect on me as Crazy Horse. Maybe I was expecting something a lot bigger. We didn’t get to see the movie on the making of the monument but I imagine it would have been a massive task.
Along with the thousands of other tourists we took our photos before heading into the gift shops.

On our way to the gift shop we could hear the thunder and wasn’t long before the rain and hail hit us. Our storm had caught up again. The gift shop was packed with people getting out of the rain. We purchased a few souvenirs’ before heading back to the car park.






It was still early in the afternoon so we decided to head out to Badlands National Park and see it we could get a camp for the night. I took us an hour or so to make it to the Park entrance. Paid our $16 for the night and found a spot in the campground. The campground was full of young families on holidays and a hive of activity with children everywhere. It’s easy to see why it is popular for an extended stay.
Just before sunset we took a drive around the Park. Got some nice photos of the sunset, and quite a few shots to join into panoramas. It may be a while before I get to work on them as they are quite time consuming.







Back at the camp it seemed to take forever to get dark. The colours were still in the clouds and the amazing landscape illuminated by the setting sun. What a spectacular view to end the day.