Road Trip #7 - Medora and Teddy Roosevelt National Park

Saturday, June 20th

We spent the majority of Saturday in Medora, ND. It is a fun old western tourist town and was always a highlight of my childhood vacations! We started by going to one of the old timey photo places to get a fake turn of the last century rancher/saloon photo taken, but the earliest available time they had was when we had to leave to get back to the family reunion dinner. If you go, make a reservation as the first thing you do before sightseeing to ensure you get a time.

We ate lunch at the Cowboy Cafe. It is our traditional spot to eat buffalo burgers and drink sarsaparilla. We love the ranch decor with local ranch brands burned into the tables and booths. There are pictures of the local ranchers all over the walls. Even though the waitresses are young ladies, most of them have been working at the Cowboy Cafe year after year. There are also foreign exchange students who get to practice English and learn the restaurant business. The ranch feel is so authentic, Eight found a tick crawling on the table at our booth.

My aunt, niece, and sister at one table. Photo by Karen Rasmussen.

Tim, Six, me, Eight, and my dad at our booth. Cheers! Photo by Karen Rasmussen.

Decor is all about the local ranchers.

The menu really hasn't changed since I remember coming here as a child, or at least what we always order hasn't changed. We all went for the buffalo burger and sarsaparilla. Some of us branched out and got the buffalo burger special that came with potato salad, others went for a side order of french fries. Six being her usual self chose the chicken nuggets with fries that came in a cardboard car. She took it home to use as a Barbie car for the rest of our trip. The food is a novelty since you can't find this menu at just any restaurant. We were adequately satisfied and it was inexpensive. The Cowboy Cafe is a cash only establishment, so plan accordingly.

My buffalo burger, side of fries and sarsaparilla. I chose not to go for the special with potato salad.

After we fueled up, we went to the Theodore Roosevelt National Park so the girls could earn their 11th Junior Ranger badge. We attended the Ranger Program touring Teddy Roosevelt's house. He actually lived in this house, although it has been relocated a few times, with it's current location right outside the Visitor's Center. It was quite the ranch mansion in it's day because it has 3 rooms on the main floor for himself, two doors, and a second level for his ranch hands. At the original location, it also had a root cellar access from a trap door in the kitchen. He came to the Badlands to try to heal his broken heart from losing both his wife and mother within hours of each other, and hours after his first child was born. His daughter went to live with his sister because in those days single dads raising children was very rare. His time in the Badlands also helped form his view on conservation and preservation. When he became president, forming the National Park Service was one of his proudest accomplishments.

Teddy Roosevelt's house in the Badlands.

The girls and my mom in the kitchen with my dad and uncle with the Park Ranger in the living room.

We drove the Scenic Drive and enjoyed seeing the rugged nature as Teddy Roosevelt once did. We saw prairie dogs, wild horses, and a few bison off in the distance. One of the Junior Ranger tasks was to take a hike. While on the Wind Canyon Trail, we spotted a herd of bison crossing the road from where we just came. So we hurried back to our vehicles to see the herd up close. As we pulled up and off the side of the road, we opened the doors to take pictures without buggy windshields. In the process my sister managed to lose one of her sandals on the side of the road.

Prairie Dog town, their chatters and chirps were loud!

Family photo with the Badlands.

A beautiful example of the different layers of rock that make up the Painted Canyon of the Badlands.

Family photo overlooking the Badlands.

A herd of wild horses.

Very cute colt in the wild herd.

A view from the top of the Wind Canyon.

My little Junior Rangers enjoying a break on their hike, right before we spotted the bison herd.

Our cousins are in the red car!

Awe, baby bison!

This herd crossed the road and started grazing in the field near our cars. (This is where my sister lost her sandal.)

Huge bison.

So big and shaggy!

We could almost reach out and touch them. But we didn't because that would be really stupid. Leave the wildlife alone!

After many bison photos, we drove back to the Visitor's Center to turn in the Junior Ranger books. The Ranger checked over their books and had the girls swear in for their 11th Junior Ranger Badge. Then my dad took my sister to look for her sandal while I took the rest of the family back to the family reunion for dinner and the talent show.

The Ranger checking over the girls' work.

The Ranger swearing in the girls, taking an oath to be conservationists.

Congratulations on your 11th Junior Ranger Badge!

Road Trip Post #3K - Mt. Rushmore

Wednesday, June 17th

We finally made it to Mount Rushmore National Memorial after our scenic drive. Everyone else took the direct route and they were done with Mt. Rushmore by the time we got there. So my sister, niece, dad, aunt, and her dog went ahead of us to Spearfish, SD where we planned to spend the night with the mission to find an interesting, rustic looking, non-chain restaurant for dinner, and check out the pool and hot tub at the hotel.

My uncle and mom stayed with the girls and me. My uncle got the girls hooked on the National Parks Junior Ranger Program, so he wanted to be there for their 10th Junior Ranger Badge.

My uncle, Eight, Six, and my mom enjoying Mt. Rushmore and filling out their Junior Ranger books.

Things we learned while filling out the Junior Ranger books: as a Veteran, I would have been asked to participate in the flag lowering/memorial lighting ceremony, but that was at 9 pm. We learned that originally Mt. Rushmore was going to be carved by drills, but after much drilling and hardly any progress, they used dynamite. Over 90% of Mt. Rushmore was carved by dynamite. We also learned that Mt. Rushmore got it's name from a New York lawyer, Charles Rushmore, who came to visit in 1885. He asked what the name of that particular mountain was called and to placate him, they jokingly said it didn't have a name, so we'll name it after you. Joke was on them as the name stuck!

Pointing out state flags of states we've lived in during our military moves.

The girls filled out as many the pages they could. We enjoyed hunting for all the flags of states we've lived in along the Walk of Flags. We had fun taking pictures along the back wall of the amphitheater. The museum on the lower level was very fun and interactive. I would have enjoyed more time to look around and read more of the descriptions, but the girls were on a mission to complete their Junior Ranger books and only looking for the answers. Their favorite part was an interactive video where they could plan the dynamite blasts, and then blow up the rock on the screen!

My uncle ready to assist with the quest for Junior Ranger badges.

The girls really enjoyed seeing Mt. Rushmore!

After all their searching and learning, the girls turned in their books to see if they earned their Junior Ranger badges.

The girls earned their 10th Junior Ranger Badge!

After the girls earned their Junior Ranger badges, we took a break to have some ice cream. Not just any ice cream, but ice cream based off the first ice cream recipe from Thomas Jefferson! After taking pictures all day, we apparently don't have any pictures of us with our ice cream. It was just the cool, creamy, sweet spot that our day needed. I highly recommend getting ice cream in a bowl because the servings are HUGE! We had strawberry cheesecake, cookies and cream, butter pecan, and the traditional vanilla. All the flavors were delicious and hit the spot.

We stopped in the gift shop before we headed up to Spearfish for the night. A surprise guest was Nick Clifford, an original Mt. Rushmore driller! He officially became employed in 1938 at the age of 17, more for his baseball skills than his drilling skills. That makes him 94 years old now. His book is filled with questions people have asked him over the years and his answers. It's a really good, quick read filled with all kinds of information.

The girls met Nick Clifford, an original Mt. Rushmore driller and got their book autographed!

We left Mt. Rushmore and took the direct route back to US 385. It was pretty, but we are happy we took the scenic route on the way there, even with all the construction stops and slow vehicles in front of us. (Except Six, who claims she nearly puked on the long twisty roads and Eight, with the occasional smell of tar from the road construction.)

Road Trip Post #2K - Wind Cave NP, Crazy Horse Mem, Needles Hwy, Iron Mountain Rd

Wednesday, June 17th.

We left the Mammoth Site and drove into Custer, SD to regroup with my parents, sister, niece, my uncle, aunt and their dog. We were separated while others had to run errands in town. Instead of errands, I took my mom and girls through a drive of Wind Cave National Park. I was a little sad we didn't take the 90 minutes to do the tour and let the girls become Junior Rangers again. We love the National Park Service Junior Ranger Program! We did see a lot of bison. (I will probably use the term buffalo, but know that I mean bison). Some day we'll have to take this trip again with Tim!

The girls talked me into getting them these adorable Junior Ranger hats at the Wind Cave NP Gift Shop.

Why did the bison cross the road? To get to the stop sign to scratch its head!

We had lunch at Subway in Custer, which I actually recommend! It's a typical Subway, but the crew was fast, efficient, and embraced being a popular chain restaurant in a tourist town with small talk on their favorite places to see and times to see it. (After finding their link on Yelp, I think I should review it and bump up their rating...after I finish my blogs.)

We decided to split up again on our way to Mt. Rushmore. I took the girls and my mom in my vehicle. First stop was to see how much progress had been made in the carving of Crazy Horse. Construction on Crazy Horse Memorial started in 1948. This memorial is privately funded and is not government sponsored like Mt. Rushmore, so progress is very slow.

We thought we could snap a few pictures in the parking lot, but the booths with people charging us $11/person admission were before the parking lots. At least they let us do a U-turn for free. We weren't in the mood to pay $44 for a quick look at the mountain.

Picture from the point of our free U-turn.

Zoomed in cropped view from our U-turn. There's now a hole under his pointing arm.

We left Crazy Horse Memorial and came to our decision point: drive straight (20 minutes on SD 244) to Mt. Rushmore, or scenic route (turned into 2 hours on SD 87 - Needles Highway to US 16A - Iron Mountain Road)? Because my sister wasn't in our vehicle, we chose the scenic route with lots of hairpin turns, sharp drop offs, and one lane tunnels. Usually the scenic route is only an hour, but we got caught behind people doing 10 mph in the 35 mph zone, and stopped in road construction with flag people so long that I actually stopped the engine and enjoyed the summer breeze carrying the scents of fresh mountain air.

Slipping through the eye of the needle on Needles Highway. Actually the eye of the needle was near here and people were rock climbing and all kinds of people parking in crazy spots to take a picture. I was focused on driving. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

Part of the scenery we would have missed going the short way. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

More scenery along the way. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

Steep cliffs that we can see on this side of the road. Drop offs looked like this, but on the other side of the road. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

One lane traffic going through a tunnel. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

We stopped at a campground to use the restroom. This is the type of safe scenery that could be seen on the short route taken by my "scaredy-cat" sister. (Opinion completely mine!)

This is the reason to take the scenic route! Our first great view of Mt. Rushmore!

Shortly after that tunnel there is a place to stop and take pictures. Here is my mom taking a picture of the girls and Mt. Rushmore.