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May 2023: Mississippi, Missouri, Iowa, and South Dakota

On May 1, 2023, we left Alabama to head toward South Dakota. We had mapped a route that would take us through Mississippi, Missouri, and Iowa before arriving in eastern South Dakota.

 

Mississippi River:


The Mississippi River, which flows for 2,350 miles, is one of the world's largest river systems. It runs through 10 states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.


From Native Americans to European settlers to modern day, the Mississippi River has been a source of sustenance and transportation for hundreds of years. Today, barges move approximately 175 million tons of freight each year on the upper Mississippi.


For more information about the Mississippi River, see here.


Our campground in Mississippi was close to Memphis, Tennessee, so we took a 90 minute sightseeing tour of the Mississippi River with Memphis Riverboats. FMI about the tours, see here. The tour included historical commentary about the river and the area, and the kids were thrilled that you could buy snacks on board the boat!

View of the Mississippi River.

 

Branson Landing, Missouri


Branson Landing in Missouri is an amazing outdoor mall with over 100 shops and restaurants. One of the prominent features is the $7.5 million water and fire show, located right on the edge of Lake Taneycomo. There are shows throughout the day, with the water fountains and fire erupting to music.


We enjoyed walking around the Landing and checking out the stores. The kids' favorites were the arcade, Build-a-Bear, a toy store, and a candy store.

View of some of the sidewalk and some of the stores at Branson Landing.

The fountain at Branson Landing.

Video of one of the fountain shows at Branson Landing.

 

Dogwood Canyon, Lampe, Missouri


Dogwood Canyon was not on our radar when we first arrived in Missouri. We had a list of things we wanted to see, and Dogwood Canyon was NOT on it. Then we happened to drive by a billboard for the park near our campground and decided at the last minute that we might as well check it out.


It became our favorite thing that we did in Missouri!


In 1990, Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops, acquired the first parcels of the property that would later become known as Dogwood Canyon. Today, Dogwood Canyon is a 10,000-acre nature park that offers hiking, biking, wildlife tours, fishing, and horseback riding. The park also has a mill, a restaurant, an educational center, and a treehouse built by Animal Planet's Treehouse Masters.


It is, in a word, breathtaking.


When we went, we walked around the park a little bit (Brady wasn't feeling walking that day), checked out the treehouse (the kids LOVED it!!), and the education center (the kids felt a shedded snake skin, saw some animals, and learned about electricity).


Toward the end of the day, we took an open-air wildlife tram tour. The tour was on an open-air tram and took us all throughout the park, which included crossing the Arkansas border to see a bison-elk pasture where we saw wild animals.


The tour was well worth the money (information about the tour can be found here). We all agreed that it was our favorite part of our visit!


If you're ever in Lampe, Missouri, Dogwood Canyon is an absolute MUST see!!!!

Photo near the entrance to Dogwood Canyon. The pathway leads to the mill, behind which is the majority of the park. To the right of the mill is the educational center and gift shop.

Darcy and Lauren outside of the entrance to Dogwood Canyon.

Picture of one of the waterfalls and pools of water in the park.

Picture of one of the pools of water surrounded by rocks in the park.

Photo of water flowing over one of the rock formations.

Photo of one of the waterfalls in the park.

Photo of some of the walking paths and a distant bridge in the park.

Photo of some water flowing over some of the rock formations.

Photo of two small waterfalls in the park.

Lauren standing in front of one of the waterfalls in the park.

Darcy and Brady standing on a walkway near a covered bridge in the park.

Lauren and Brady near the covered bridge.

Lauren learning about electricity in the education center.

A small museum in the mill.

A large waterfall in the park, viewed from an overlook right outside of the mill.

The back of the mill.

A view of the back of the mill.

 

Butterfly Palace, Branson, Missouri


While we were in Branson, Missouri, Lauren, Brady, and I went to the Butterfly Palace. The Butterfly Palace has a huge butterfly aviary where you can walk around and feed butterflies. It also has a living rainforest science center with various reptiles, a theater, a mirror maze, and a tree maze.


Fun fact: Did you know that there are 750 species of butterflies in the United States!?


The kids loved the Butterfly Palace and did not want to leave!

A butterfly landed on the feeder that Darcy was holding.

The butterfly aviary.

A butterfly landed on a leaf.

Lauren and Brady sit on a white bench shaped like a butterfly in the aviary.

Lauren releasing a butterfly into the aviary.

Brady releasing a butterfly into the aviary.

Lauren and Brady standing in the butterfly aviary, each holding a feeder with a red flower on top, and smiling.


All in all, Missouri turned out--very unexpectedly--to be one of Darcy's favorite places! Branson, Missouri is an amazing place, with activities for everyone!

 

Lake Manawa State Park, Iowa

After leaving Missouri, we made a brief two-night stay at Lake Manawa State Park in Iowa, on our way up to South Dakota.


Lake Manawa has one of the largest playgrounds we have EVER seen!!! The kids were IN LOVE!!

Lauren climbing on a large rock on the playground.

Picture of the playground.

Brady playing with a red pirate ship wheel on part of the playground.

 

Corn Palace, Mitchell, South Dakota


The Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota was established in 1892. It was originally supposed to be a place where neighbors could gather to celebrate the fall harvest. Today, it's a multi-use facility that's used for dances, meetings, banquets, proms, graduations, and basketball games.


The Corn Palace is redecorated every year. Each spring, a new mural design to chosen. Colored corn, grains, and native grasses are nailed to the Corn Palace to make the mural.


For more information about the Corn Palace's history, see here.

Darcy, Lauren, Brian, and Brady stand in front of the Corn Palace. To their left, a few guys in a lift are working on taking down last year's design.

Corn designs inside of the gymnasium in Corn Palace.

Lauren standing behind a display that says "Corn Palace" with different colored ears of corn.

Lauren outside hugging a statute of an ear of corn.

 

Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota

Wall Drug is a famous and iconic store in Wall, South Dakota. (This is likely also because there is pretty much nothing else to do in Wall.)


Wall Drug was started decades ago by a husband and wife. Because of its rural location and the lack of nearby attractions, the business struggled at first. Finally, the family had the brilliant idea of offering free ice water to travelers passing through the area. They posted billboard-like signs on the nearby highway. Soon travelers started coming to the store to get their free ice water as they traveled through the hot plains.


Today, Wall Drug continues to offer free ice water to all of its visitors. They also offer $0.05 cups of coffee. (And if you know Brian at all, you know he took advantage of both of those things!!!! I wasn't sure we would ever get him out of Wall!!)


Now, Wall Drug is no longer a small mom-and-pop store struggling to survive; it is a massive 76,000 sq ft complex, filled with several stores, a restaurant, an ice cream counter, and a "backyard"--filled with larger-than-life attractions, including stuffed buffalo, an imitation Mount Rushmore, and a fake dinosaur that comes "alive" every 12 minutes. More than 2 million people visit Wall Drug every year.


Our campground was just a short walk from Wall Drug, so we walked there several times. The kids loved checking out the stores, especially the gemstone store and the candy store. Brian lived for the free ice water and cheap coffee. We also enjoyed seeing the Native American artwork, the stuffed buffalo, and the cowboy hats!

One of the hallways inside of Wall Drug.

Lauren trying on a black cowboy hat inside of Wall Drug.

Lauren petting one of the stuffed buffalo in the "backyard."

The dinosaur in the "backyard."


While I wouldn't make a special trip to South Dakota for Wall Drug, if you are going to be visiting the nearby Badlands or Blackhills, it is definitely worth a trip to stop in at this iconic store!

 

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

For a more detailed review of our trip to the Badlands National Park, see our separate blog post about the park here.


In short, while the Badlands National Park is not the national park you're going to want to go to if you want to hike several mountains, this park has stunning and highly unique vistas and is absolutely worth a visit.

 

Black Hills, South Dakota

After we left the Badlands National Park, we headed to a campground near Rapid City, South Dakota. From there, we explored the Black Hills of South Dakota and all that that area has to offer--which is a LOT!


In the Black Hills of South Dakota, you will find famous attractions, such as Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave National Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, and Custer State Park.


Mount Rushmore:


The faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln are carved into the side of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Established in 1925, the Mount Rushmore Memorial features 60-foot sculptures of some of the most influential American Presidents. The memorial is high up on the mountains, found at 5,725 feet above sea level.


As perhaps one of the most iconic American symbols ever, we had all seen pictures of Mount Rushmore, but none of us had ever seen it in real life.


At the park, Brian remarked that being at the Memorial felt similar to being in Washington, D.C. It invokes all the same feelings of grandeur, awe, and history as do the monuments dedicated to some of those same Presidents in D.C. It is a brilliant reminder of the tenacity of the American spirit and of American democracy--this amazing experiment that said that the people themselves should get to choose their own leaders and their own fate. For all of the toxicity that exists in American politics right now, Mount Rushmore is a stark and powerful reminder of the beauty behind the American experiment and of what strong and compassionate leaders can accomplish.

Picture of Mount Rushmore from the observation deck.

Picture of George Washington seen through an opening in a cave along the Presidential Trail around Mount Rushmore.

Darcy, Brady, and Lauren posing in front of Mount Rushmore.

Brady, holding his white cane, and Lauren posing in front of Mount Rushmore.

 

Big Thunder Gold Mine


In the 19th century, over 250,000 Native Americans lived in the Great Plains, including in South Dakota. The Black Hills of South Dakota were considered sacred grounds by the Lakota, and in 1868, the Treaty of Fort Laramie granted the Lakota ownership of the area.


However, in 1874, the United States government sent General George Custer on an expedition to the Black Hills of South Dakota to find a location for a new United States Army fort and to investigate the area's natural resources. When the expedition found gold, thousands of whites moved to the Black Hills to try to strike it rich, in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie.


In 1875, the United States government offered to buy the Black Hills from the Lakota for $6 million, but the Lakota leader Sitting Bull rejected the offer. The United States government then decides that it will have its army prevent white people from moving into the area and orders all Lakota living outside the reservation to move there by late January 1876. Failure to do so meant they would be considered hostile.


Subsequently, war broke out between the Lakota and the United States, leading to Custer's overwhelming defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn in June 1876. Nonetheless, the United States prevailed, and by the spring of 1877, most Native Americans in the area had surrendered or fled to Canada.


The gold rush in the area continued, as white men continued to try to find gold and strike it rich.


The Big Thunder Gold mine in Keystone, South Dakota was discovered in 1892 by two German immigrants. Mining attempts continued until 1914, when the United States government ordered that all mines must be closed that were not producing metals that could be used to help in the war efforts (World War I).


Today, the Big Thunder Gold mine is a tourist attraction. It lets visitors walk through the mine and then try their hand at gold panning. (Spoiler alert: We were very bad at it!)


It was amazing to walk through a real gold mine and to learn the history of the mines.

View of the Big Thunder Gold Mine from the parking lot.

Entrance to the mine.

Lauren, Darcy, and Brady standing outside of the mine entrance, wearing yellow hard hats. Brady has his white cane.

Picture of the inside of the cave.

The end of the path inside the mine.

Brady and Lauren at the end of the mine.

Lauren and Brian trying to pan for gold.


This was a wonderful attraction that combined education with an amazing excursion and the opportunity to look for real gold. If you're in the Black Hills, this is definitely worth a visit!!

 

Custer State Park


Custer State Park is the second largest state park in the country and unlike any other state park we have ever been to. It encompasses 71,000 acres that include lakes, rolling hills, wild animals, and a winding road through narrow rock tunnels. (The Needles Highway is one of the most popular parts of the park. Unfortunately, our truck wouldn't fit through the smallest tunnel, so we weren't able to drive the entire highway. We were so disappointed because it's so iconic!)


The entrance fee is incredibly reasonable. It's $20 for a vehicle pass, which is good for 7 days.


Wildlife Loop:


The Wildlife Loop inside of Custer State Park is an 18-mile road that takes you through rolling hills and open grasslands; where you are likely to see some of the park's approximately 1,500 buffalo, as well as some prairie dogs and some very social burros (i.e. donkeys).


The Wildlife Loop is ABSOLUTELY worth the drive, and a must do in the park!!

A bison grazing near the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park.

Three bison relaxing in the setting sun along the Wildlife Loop.

A prairie dog hanging out.

Two burros on the Wildlife Loop. The burros are very friendly and will let you pet and feed them.

A view of the Wildlife Loop road.

A burro.

Lauren and Brady standing in front of a burro on the Wildlife Loop road. Lauren's face is ecstatic--she couldn't get over how cute the burros were!!


Custer State Park's Wildlife Loop is a great way to see lots of wildlife, as well as some beautiful scenery. We started the Wildlife Loop from the Visitor Center near the East Entrance of the park. After finished the Wildlife Loop, we continued along route 87, passed the Blue Bell Lodge and Legion Lake. I would HIGHLY recommend taking this route after doing the Wildlife Loop (if you're starting from the park's east entrance). The road took us high up into the mountains and gave us some absolutely spectacular views!!


Lake Sylvan:


Sylvan Lake is in Custer State Park and is toward the end of the Needles Highway (or the beginning, depending on where you're coming from!). Since we couldn't take the Needles Highway, we took a back way up to the lake. Thankfully, we did get to go through one stone tunnel on our way to the lake (Hood Tunnel) that could accommodate our vehicle. It was beautiful!!!


While the lake is popular as a starting point for some more popular, but strenuous hiking trails, Brady is not a fan of strenuous hiking trails, so we did a relatively short and easy trail that goes around the lake called Lake Shore.


Let me tell you--for an easy and relatively short hike, the Lake Shore trail is GORGEOUS!! Not only do you get to see the lake from all sides, you get to climb up some rocks on the far side of the lake and see a waterfall that falls down the back of the rocks.


We had packed a lunch, so we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the rocks next to the lake, starting out at the lake. The kids were THRILLED to be having lunch in such a cool place!

Sylvan Lake.

Brady, Lauren, and Brian on the Lake Shore trail near Sylvan Lake. This part of the trail goes through two huge boulders close together with some large rocks hanging above your head.

Another view of Sylvan Lake.

Sylvan Lake.

 

Crazy Horse Memorial


Crazy Horse was born in the mid-1800s near present-day Rapid City, South Dakota. He was a member of the Lakota tribe. Crazy Horse was a warrior who was instrumental in resisting white Americans' efforts to consign the Native Americans to reservations. He refused to honor the reservation provisions of the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) and led others to unceded areas, where they continued to hunt and fish. After gold was discovered in the region in 1874, Crazy Horse and Chief Sitting Bull fought--and defeated--Custer and his soldiers at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. A year later, Crazy Horse was forced to surrender to United States forces. He was ultimately killed by soldiers tasked with imprisoning him.


In the 1930s, sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski--who had been raised as a Boston orphan of polish descent--was asked by Chief Henry Standing Bear to sculpt a memorial to American Indians. Ziolkowski accepted and, along with his family, ended up spending the rest of his life working on the Crazy Horse memorial. Ziolkowski arrived in the Black Hills to begin work on the project in May 1947 and remained there--refusing to take a salary--until his death in October 1982 at the age of 74.


Ziolkowski is credited as saying: "By carving Crazy Horse, if I can give back to the Indian some of his pride and create a means to keep alive his culture and heritage, my life will have been worthwhile."


Korczak's family continued his legacy and remain deeply involved in the ongoing sculpting of the Crazy Horse Memorial to this day.


Although the continued sculpting of the Crazy Horse Memorial itself is part of the objective of the foundation, the foundation is also dedicating to "providing educational and cultural programming to encourage harmony and reconciliation among all people and nations."


When we were there, we had the opportunity to observe some Native American dances, as well as to eat at the on-site restaurant (Laughing Water), where we tried some Native American fry bread and wojapi (warm berry sauce).


It was absolutely wonderful to get to experience some Native American culture.

Small sculpture showing what the completed Crazy Horse sculpture will look like in the mountain when it is done. Behind it, you can see the partially completed sculpture in the mountain.

A picture of the Crazy Horse sculpture in the mountain, May 2023.

A view of the deck area. In the foreground is a fountain. To the right is the Laughing Waters restaurant. In the background is the Crazy Horse Memorial. In the back left is the stage where the Native American performers danced.

Photograph of the museum.

One of the performers.

Another performer doing a Shawl Dance.

Another performer doing the Jingle Dress Dance.


We had the opportunity to meet the performers after the show, and they allowed Brady to feel the jingle dress, so he understood how the dress had made noise as the dancer danced in it. All of the performers were incredibly nice, incredibly talented, and were happy to answer questions and teach the audience about their culture. It was truly a remarkable experience!


Although there is an admission fee to get into Crazy Horse ($35 for our vehicle as of May 2023), it was worth the money to get to experience the performances and some Native American food!

 

Wind Cave National Park


Wind Cave National Park surprised us. When we were planning our trip, we knew we wanted to go to South Dakota to see the Badlands and Mount Rushmore. Wind Cave was not really on our radar; we decided to go only because we love national parks and it was close by.


It ended up being one of our favorite stops in the Black Hills!!


Wind Cave was the first cave to be designated as a national park. It consists of over 33,000 acres of forest and prairie above ground, and over 150 miles of known cave passages underneath the ground. Cave tours are INCREDIBLY popular and often sell out quickly. (As we learned when we could only book two tickets for the morning of our visit.) Its caves have the highest concentration of boxwork formations anywhere in the world.

Because we couldn't get tickets for all of us to explore the caves, Darcy and Brady explored the caves while Brian and Lauren explored some of the walking trails above ground and the gift shop.


There are five cave tours available for a nominal fee.


Garden of Eden Tour: This 1/4 mile hike through the cave is the least strenuous tour. It requires walking over 150 stairs.


Natural Entrance Tour: This 2/3 mile hike through the cave involves walking approximately 300 stairs and on uneven paths. The tour starts with the park ranger taking participants to the natural entrance to the cave, so they can see how the cave was discovered by white Europeans and hear the Lakota creation story surrounding the entrance.


Fairgrounds Tour: This 2/3 mile hike through the cave involves walking approximately 450 stairs and is considered strenuous. This tour explores both the upper and middle levels of Wind Cave.


Candlelight Tour: Offered only in the summer, this tour is 2/3 mile, strenuous, and takes participants to a "less developed, unlit section of the cave." Each participant must carry their own candle bucket that provides the only lighting. Minimum age for this tour is 8.


Wild Cave Tour: Offered only in the summer, this is a very strenuous 4 hour tour through the caves. Cave passages are not lit. Participants are given helmets, kneepads, and headlamps, and will be forced to crawl through tiny spaces. The park notes that "most of the tour is spent crawling on your hands and knees." Visitors must be able to fit through a space that is 10 inches tall. Minimum age for this tour is 16. (The park ranger who took us on our tour said that she hadn't even completed this entire tour and that she found it terrifying.)


Brady and Darcy were able to get tickets to the Natural Entrance tour.

Natural entrance to Wind Cave.


The small hole pictured above is the natural entrance to Wind Cave. It was first discovered by white settlers in 1881 when Jesse and Tom Bingham heard a whistling noise near the hole and went to check it out. Legend says that when they got close, wind from the cave blew Tom Bingham's hat off of his head.


The cave was most thoroughly explored in the 1800s by a 16 year old named Alvin McDonald. When his family moved to the area in 1890, Alvin began exploring Wind Cave's extensive passages carrying a candle and a ball of string to find his way back. He kept a journal and map of his explorations and took others on tours of the cave.


However, despite the exploration of the cave by white immigrants in the late 1800s, the Lakota people have always known of the existence of the cave. Lakota lore teaches that people emerged from the spirit world to the Earth's surface via the hole. The Lakota believe that people were supposed to wait in the spirit world until Earth was ready for them. However, a spirit tricked them and sent a wolf down into the cave with clothes and food. Some Lakota followed the wolf, despite the Creator having told them the Earth was not ready for them yet. When they later realized they had been tricked, they tried to return to the cave, but found it was blocked. As punishment for leaving the cave too soon, the Creator turned them into bison. Later, when Earth was finally ready, the remaining Lakota emerged from the cave. The Creator told them to follow their relatives--the bison--and that the bison would give them all they needed to survive (clothes, food, etc). So that they could never return to the spirt world, the Creator then shrunk the entrance to the cave. (The parallels between this and the creation story in the Bible are absolutely breathtaking.) Because of its central role in their creation story, the cave is a sacred site to the Lakota.


The cave is dark and tight in many spaces, but it is absolutely gorgeous.

One of the larger caverns we saw on our tour of the cave.

A view of some of the steps we climbed down on our tour.

A view of part of the cave.

A picture of the extensive boxwood formations in one of the caverns.


While the tour of the cave was amazing and I did not want it to end, amazingly, Wind Cave is equally beautiful above ground.


Once Darcy and Brady were done touring the caves, they re-joined Lauren and Brian to take a drive around the park's main road, where we saw rolling prairies, huge hills, and tons of wildlife.

View from one of the look outs on the Wind Cave park road.

Bison relaxing in the grass in the park.

Bison crossing the park road forced a car approaching us to stop.

A baby bison walks along the top of the hill while other bison nearby lay down and rest.


While Wind Cave was not originally a priority for us, anyone who is in the Black Hills region HAS to stop by this park! Both the cave system and the above ground portion of the park are equally worth exploring. Just remember that getting tickets to get into the caves can be hard!!

 

Devil's Tower


Devil's Tower is a national monument in Crook County, Wyoming. It is a stunning and wondrous rock formation jutting high above the surrounding hills.


The formation dates back to the Triassic period--225 to 195 million years ago. During this time, much of the area was covered by water. Fossils of oysters, clams, and mollusks have been found in some of the rocks. As the ancient water began to evaporate, deposits of gypsum were left behind.


Geologists agree that Devil's Tower began as magma buried beneath the Earth's surface. However, "they cannot agree [on] the processes by which the magma cooled to form the Tower, or its relationship to the surrounding geology of the area." See here for more information about the theories behind the formation of the Tower.


While geologists debate how the Tower was formed, several local Native American tribes, including the Arapaho, Crow, and Lakota, have their own oral histories about how the tower was created. While these creation stories differ, the Native Americans all treat the Tower as a sacred site. Today, several tribes still use the park for traditional ceremonies. Prayer cloths can be observed tied in trees all around the Tower.


Additionally, while the formation is known as Devil's Tower, many Native Americans feel the name is inappropriate and have lobbied for the name to be changed. Additionally, while the Tower is a popular place for rock climbing (we observed several rock climbers while we were there), many Native Americans view climbing the Tower to be disrespectful, as it is a sacred place to them.


Outside of geological debates about its formation, or cultural disagreements over what to call it or whether climbing it should be allowed, we can all agree that the Tower is an absolute marvel.

View of the back of the Tower from the Devil's Tower Trail.

Brady feeling a tactile exhibit on the Tower Trail. Wind Cave did a PHENOMENAL JOB with accessibility. There was a Braille and tactile map near the entrance; a 3D model of the Tower along the trail, so Brady could feel what the Tower looks like; and tactile exhibits on all of the plaques around the trail. This was probably the most accessible areas we have ever been to.

Brady and Lauren laying on a large rock. Brady's white cane is laying at the base of the rock. Although the Tower Trail is described as "easy," it was a hot afternoon when we walked the trail and the kids were NOTTTTTT having it!

View of rolling hills from the Tower Trail. The Tower is directly behind me.


May was an incredibly busy month. We hauled the camper from Mississippi to South Dakota and saw countless things along the way. We are beginning June in eastern Wyoming. As the month goes on, our plan is to head toward western Wyoming, and eventually going to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park.


If you have any recommendations for us, let us know!! And as always, thank you so much for traveling along with us!!!














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