After a six hour drive north on I-25 (I am getting good with my N S E W directions) we arrived in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The drive was fairly uneventful, mostly open grassland with a few deer scattered here and there. Once we crossed the border from Wyoming into South Dakota the landscape changed dramatically to thick pine forests and lots of hills. We stopped off at Jewel Cave National Monument to see what this was like but as the tour into the cave required a drop of 700 steps I opted out, thinking that my escape route wasn't as clearly defined as I would like. If it had been a walk in walk out affair where I could see daylight all the time it wouldn't have been a problem. Caves are not really my thing, and as Craig has seen more than his fair share over the years he didn't mind missing out.

Off we headed from here directly to our campsite in Custer State Park, at the southern end of the Black Hills. A truly beautiful park, lush green pine forests, numerous lakes and streams and the most amazing guest lodges made of stones and logs. The campground we were staying in was full, fortunately we had booked ahead so our reserved campsite was there waiting for us. A very pretty setting by a stream with freshly mowed lawns, really not what we were expecting for just a park.

Custer Sate Park is well known for having the largest wild buffalo herd in the US. On Sunday we headed out the Wildlife Loop road, which goes around the entire park, to see some real wildlife (we discovered there were no bears in this park, thank goodness). We didn't have to drive far before we saw deer, mules and buffalo. We seemed to be the only ones stopping to look at the deer, we figured they must be like the kangaroos back home, no big deal. They were pretty exciting to us and as it was spring there were lots of young ones around. Same for the buffalo herds, obviously not a problem with the males fertility because it seemed that every cow had a calf at foot. They cull the herds once a year, having a big round up over a few days and then run an auction at stockyards in the park. The money raised goes straight back into the park.

One other thing we couldn't help noticing was that the US army was in the park on manoeuvres. Lots of people in camouflage gear, helicopters overhead most of the day and trucks everywhere. Nothing seemed to bother the animals, they were busy eating and sleeping. It took us the whole morning to do the drive and then we had lunch by one of the lakes and even took out a paddle boat for a spin. At one of the visitor centers we stopped in, the man behind the desk said to Craig "where did you get your Australian bush hat", of course the reply was "Australia". He was an old guy about 70 who had been to Australia and told us he has only ever met two kinds of Australians, those that have been to Disneyland, or those that are planning to go to Disneyland. We had to tell him that now he has met a third kind, those that have been and are planning to go again.

Unfortunately the rain moved in that night but we woke to a warm and sunny morning. Off to Mt Rushmore today, it was very warm by the time we left so we left the tent windows open. A nice drive over to Mt Rushmore we arrived to a crowd of people, but not an overwhelming crowd. The monument itself was advertised as free but it cost $8 to park the car. Even on the drive over we could see the presidents heads, it was quite amazing. Getting up close you realise just how big these sculptures are, it was very impressive. I was certainly impressed. We went for a walk around the base of the mountain and then walked through the museum and sculptors house where the process of creating the sculptures was well defined and displayed. After watching a short film we came outside to the last part of a rain storm, ah oh, the tent windows are open. Fortunately we had finished touring around here so we headed back to the campground via the Needles Highway, a very scenic road with lots of granite spires and small tunnels cut right through the rocks. Luck was on our side because it was still sunny when we returned but not for long, the rain storm had followed us so we closed everything up, collected our swimmers (or togs, depending where you are from) and towels and headed out to Hot Springs for a nice warm swim.

Wrong, after paying a $23 entry fee (for a swim, we couldn't believe it) the water was cold. Not even warm, it was cold. Kyle only lasted 30 minutes before he started turning blue and shivering so everyone out and back into warm clothes. It was still raining on the drive home so we headed into Custer to buy some dinner. Not a great deal of choice, so we ended up at the Pizza Hut. We sat down and started talking and the guy on the next table turned around and asked us where we were from (our accents must really be noticeable….). Anyway he was from Perth, married an American and is living and working in Minnesota. Very nice people, it was good to have a chat to someone who has been here awhile. Small world, he works for a division of GMAC.

Next morning it was still raining, but it did stop long enough for us to quickly pack up the wet tent and head out to our next destination, Mystery Mountain Resort. The name sounded good, the campsites were set amongst tall pines and it was an okay stopover, not as nice as Custer State Park though. I don't think I have mentioned it yet, but on this trip we have a TV in the car. Yes, in true American style (sorry to all of our American friends) a friend of Craig's at work lent us a small TV that runs off the cigarette lighter in the car. The kids watched videos on the trip up to South Dakota and when it was raining and we were trying to pack the car we put Amy and Kyle in the car, popped on a video and they were happy to sit there while we did the packing. True decadence. We are hoping to borrow it again for the trip to Michigan in August.

Anyway we are now situated more towards Rapid City, further into the Black Hills. We cooked lunch in the rain and decided what to do next. Lets go shopping in Keystone, a town between Mt Rushmore and Rapid City. As we headed out the weather seemed to be blowing over and there were patches of blue sky. Keystone is the town that basically supports Mt Rushmore with numerous motels, and even more souvenir shops. It basically consisted of a main street about 500 metres long with shops lining either side of the street. We walked around for a while, looking at the various ways people made money and couldn't believe that people could make a reasonable living.

By now the sun was blaring down on us so we headed back to the campsite for a swim (weather just like Melbourne). After dinner we decided that tonight would be a good night (clear skies and no rain) to go back to Mt Rushmore to see the lighting ceremony. We arrived at about 8.30, not sure what to expect. There were even more people than during the day. Everyone was seated in an amphitheatre facing the mountain. The music started playing and the stage doors opened. A park ranger began the ceremony and then a short film was shown, this time about the four men presented on the mountain, Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. After the film the national anthem was playing and the powerful lights pointing up to the faces came on and that was it, everyone went home. I think we could have arrived at 9.30 just to see the mountain lit up.