In Omaha, whenever you mention to anybody that you're planning a trip to South Dakota you always get the same response, " why are you going there, there's nothing to see but rocks". I've really enjoyed my trips to South Dakota, for one, it's nice to get out of the cities, two there's so much nature to take in, and three, you'd probably never fly there from the UK.
So for this weeks blog, I thought I would prove my point with a bit of an extended stills selection, with lashings of the obligatory ramblings you've all gotten used to.
The Badlands
On a sunny day.
On a cloudy, hazy day.
This is the second time I've visited the Badlands National Park, it consists largely of sedimentary rock which has simply eroded in dramatic fashion. It's easy to trace the geological history of the rock as the layers of different rock and sediment have left different coloured bands on the landscape as a guide.
I found the rock to be really soft, it simply crumbles under foot and the park is actually eroding at a rate of 1 inch per year, so best get yourself to South Dakota before it's gone.
Triangle Ranch.
The house you see in the above images was bought from a Sears, Roebuck & Co Catalog for the princely sum at the time of, $ 3,825. It arrived on two railroad cars and was completed in 1923. Houses are again available today to buy via catalogue, funny how everything goes full circle.
The lady who owned the house had the courtesy to sit and chat, she told me stories of growing up as a cow girl and the struggles her forefathers bore to forge lives as homesteaders. I could have honestly listened to her for days.
The Homestead Act was signed into law by Abraham Lincoln on May 20th, 1862. In a nut shell it meant that a patch of unappropriated Federal land was given to pretty much anyone who could provide an 18 dollar filling fee. Under the terms of the act they were required to, build a home, make improvements and farm the land for a minimum of 5 years.
Life was hard for early Homesteaders, winters were brutal, summers harsh and back breaking work was undertaken by hand. They had to learn how to farm and build on a very steep learning curve. The Lady of the house seemed to know intimately her family history, she was still to this day grateful for the struggles her ancestors endured and spoke of them with such respect and fondness even though she'd never known them.
Minuteman Silo.
South Dakota was home to many Minuteman missiles during the Cold War with the Former Soviet Union. Just by the side of the I-90 is a disused minuteman silo, it's not signposted, but if you know where to find it just a simple chain link fence marks the site out. The blast door is half open, a glass atrium has been placed over a training missile so you can get a glimpse of what an intercontinental ballistic nuclear weapon looks like.
This particular site is Delta-09, there were 150 similar sites spread accross western South Dakota, from 1963 to 1991 this silo contained a fully operational Minuteman missile. The Silo itself goes three stories under ground, some decommissioned Silos have been bought privately and turned into houses.
The Minuteman II's warhead is more powerful than all the bombs the Army Airforce dropped on Europe in their successful bombing campaign that led to American victory in World War II. It's quite sobering to think that just meters away from the freeway there's a weapon with such destructive power, and yet you might drive by it everyday and never be aware of it's existence.
Custer State Park.
The above shots were taken in Custer State Park after snowfall the previous evening. The Kalamazoo River runs through the park which is the best name I've ever heard for a river, not really too much to say about the park except it was beautiful.
And, I know I have a problem with taking pictures of trees, I'm currently undergoing therapy, please try and bear with me while I address this issue.
Behold, Carhenge!
Where else in the world would you find a tribute to the UK's Stonehenge made entirely of old cars, yes of course you guessed it, it had to be America. After driving through some of the most worn out and battered one horse towns I've ever witnessed you arrive at Alliance. Carhenge was built by Jim Reinders as a memorial to his father, he later added other sculptures on the same site which came to be known as the Car Art Reserve.
The site has been used in popular culture and found it's way into film, music videos, television programmes and commercials. Only in America...
Chimney Rock.
Heading South West from Alliance you come to Chimney Rock which stands prominent on the landscape. As migrants moved from the eastern half of the continent to the western half they travelled along the Oregon Trail and to many weary travellers "Elk's Penis", as the native Americans called it, would have been a welcome break from the bleak landscape they had seen for much of their journey. It also signalled the end of the Prairies as they continued westward toward the Rocky Mountains.
South Dakota as I'm sure you'll now agree, has a lot more than just "rocks" to see.
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