The Way People See Us
                          		       
                             		         by Rick Geyerman

             	                         a general guide for travel across South Dakota, the way 
                          	that most people see us -  from east to west... on Interstate - 90... 
                                                in the Summer... with a car full of kids 
		

                                    -------------------

         If you have time before you arrive, call 1.800.SDAKOTA, and get the latest
         South Dakota Vacation Guide by mail.  Allow a couple months. Check our state tourism links. 
	 

Once you get near, Rest Areas have a huge selection of literature. 

While driving through us, a true student of contemporary upper-plains life would tune his radio to WNAX  - 570 on the AM dial. 
It's hard-core farm markets, local sports, and home journals, and - late at night - those creepy UFO abduction call-in shows. 
But, it has a HUGE broadcast signal and audience. Out in the country, it's what we listen to. Learn from it.  Otherwise, press SEEK.

Any vehicle with kids will listen to whatever keeps them happy.       press SEEK 

Have a Safe Trip.

         Sioux Falls, SD's largest - and fastest growing city - has some museums, but has never been known as a
         "tourist stop".   If you find yourself with a couple hours to
         kill...  Falls Park, where the town got it's name, or the
         Japanese Gardens at Terrace Park.  

A relatively new attraction is the Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk. 
At a few select park locations, but mostly lining Phillips Avenue's downtown sidewalks all year long. 
Four or five on a block, on each side of the street. 
Not a nice stroll in the winter, but on a summer afternoon, I was impressed, and even my jaded 19-year-old daughter stayed interested.

In February, 2007, T Denny Sanford made a $400 MILLION gift to the Sioux Valley Hospital System - 
in Sioux Falls, the nation's largest-ever individual gift to a health-care facility. 
The newly renamed Sanford Health System will rival Rochester's Mayo Clinic, especially for pediatric care.

Sioux Falls has most of the big-city amenities... giant shopping mall,   great eats,  IMax theatre, 
 several small and specialized museums. If you're here for a couple days, you can stay busy and stimulated.

If you are looking to come to SD and find a career, Sioux Falls is the place. It's gonna grow like gang-busters.

If you are a driving tourist, you'll most likely head west. 

         Just west of Sioux Falls, (about mile marker 391) you will find
         Buffalo Ridge, an abandoned tourist trap, built to
         resemble an abandoned ghost town. Keep your eyes
         peeled, because there *is* a herd of buffalo
         that can sometimes be seen in the valley just before the fort. 
	 Check both sides of the highway.

       	

A few miles further, watch for the giant bull head sculpture on the left. 
There is a whole Sculpture Park to view, but I've never got off the Interstate to do it.

Most people hurry on to Mitchell... (For a more detailed tourist's description of Mitchell)
	
	The phone number to the Mitchell Chamber of Commerce 
	is 1.800.257.CORN 
        The radio station is K*O*R*N (1490 AM dial)
        The football team is the Kernels.
        Can you believe this?
	
	No corny coincidence, Mitchell is the home to 
	the World’s Only Corn Palace. 

	3000 bushels of colored grain, arranged in giant murals 
	on the outside of the city auditorium. 
              Open FREE all year, 
	except when there is an event. 
        You came to see the *outside* anyway.
        Lit at night. Gift shop inside, in the summer.
	
	The Corn Palace Festival   annual carnival
	top name entertainment...  Polka Festival, ...             
             
        
        the Prehistoric Indian Village, the only National
        Archaeological Landmark in South Dakota open to the public. 
	Just finished "World’s Only Archeodome” allows year-round 
	excavation in spite of our famous Dakota Winters.

           and a good small museum begun by Hamlin
        Garland ( Dakota Discovery Museum - Oscar Howe Art Center)
	Highlights of the museum's collection are "Dakota Woman" 

	by Harvey Dunn,
	a canvas which most will readily recognize, and life sized 
	statues of Lewis and Clark, sculpted by James Earle Fraser, 
	who later became famous for designing the buffalo nickel.

Also featured is Oscar Howe, the noted Lakota Sioux Artist and South Dakota's Artist Laureate
 until his death in 1983

        Mitchell has 800 motel rooms, and is a convenient
        place to overnight, before the 300 mile push to the
        Black Hills. Holiday Inn, Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Best
        Western, AmericInn, etc. 
		
	If the Government ever succeeds in creating the Buffalo Commons, 
	Mitchell will be that last stop for gas.


        

        There is a guy in Mitchell that rents lots of campers, if
         you are thinking of turning your vacation into an extreme
        family thing.   Jack's Campers..605.996.3268
        I'm sure there are others.
       
             
        Did Laura Ingalls Wilder mean anything to you?
        "Little House on the Prairie" is in De Smet.
        I have not been there. I keep promising I will go, when my daughter is older.
        An hour and a half north of Mitchell. 
(2007 note: my daughter has grown and moved away from home, and we've still never been there. 
I just couldn't get her interested. Now that she's gone, I'll have to go alone.  Maybe.)

        Mitchell to Rapid City is 300 miles... you'll have a new
        appreciation for billboards.

The biggest danger for motorists on the Interstate (or any highway in SD) is hitting a deer. 
They are mostly active around sunset. 
Those little "anti-deer" whistles that screw on your bumper DO NOT WORK. 
Reduce your speed at night, please.
	
        The rest area at Chamberlain, before you cross the Missouri
        River, is one of the great scenic views in the state. 
	You be Lewis. I’ll be Clark.

        Two miles north of Chamberlain, the 
	Akta Lakota Indian Museum...

        A new resort on the Missouri River (Cedar Shores)
        opened June 1995.

       Al's Oasis in Oacoma, just across the river from Chamberlain. ... is famous... Gas up, have a 	
buffalo burger, buy the kids something to occupy the next three or four *long* 
hours on the road... 

Note: this might be the first place you'll see real Native Americans. 
There are a couple Reservations nearby, and Al's is a favorite stop for groceries. 
They dress like you and me, but have a great year-round tan.

        On the highway, watch for pheasants, skunks, raccoons, gophers,
        turtles, snakes, coyotes... you might spot an antelope (in the distance) between
        the Badlands and Rapid City. Hitting a deer with a vehicle
        is no fun. Be wary after dark.

       By the way, the name of our state capitol is Pierre,
       pronounced PEER - not PEE AIR. An hour north of the
       interstate, on the river. Most people won't go there unless
       elected.
	

Gain an hour (set your clocks back) as you enter the
        mountain time zone, near Murdo.

Somewhere between Murdo and Wall, I think, there is a metal-sculpted statue of a man leading a dinosaur.

       A trip thru the Badlands, on the way to the
       Black Hills, is worthwhile. 21 mile loop highway
       parallels Interstate-90. Park headquarters is a motel
       (Cedar Pass Lodge), restaurant, and ranger station.SD Indian Reservations
       I remember - on a very hot day - watching a car overheat and burn up there in the
       parking lot, when I was little.

             The KOA nearby has been recommended by another traveler.
             You are an hour out of Rapid City.
		
             Wounded Knee... A side trip thru the Pine Ridge reservation - or a day trip from a Black Hills vacation  - would be
             interesting. More people should. 

Most SD Indian Reservations are dirt poor, but efforts are being made to improve their lot,
             and increase tourism and economic development. 
Unfortunately, they are not located on the major tourist route, Interstate-90. 
The Sioux are proud people who have been horribly mis-treated by the US Government. See Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Red Cloud.
They still claim title to the entire Black Hills as their Sacred Ground, 
and have turned down MILLIONS in government funds in exchange.

             Wall Drug. Free ice water, and 5 cent coffee.
             A million kids have had their photo taken on that stuffed
             buckin' Bronc out back. (Is it still there?)
             Signs around the world - GI's even took 'em to Viet Nam -
             advertising Wall Drug.

             Rapid City... the gateway to the Black Hills - or Paha Sapa as the Sioux would call them.

The Black Hills is extremely family-friendly to tourists, and the reason most people visit South Dakota.

             there's the skyline dinosaur drive, in Rapid.

             Lotta stuff like: Reptile Gardens, Chuckwagon Dinner Show,
             Petrified Forest, Bear Country, Flintstone Village, Trout
             Haven, StoryBook Island... if you've been reading the
             rest-area brochures, you'll have your trip planned 
	     by the time you arrive.
         

About lodging in the Black Hills... there are rooms and campgrounds everywhere. But, some towns can
             fill up when "their event" is in progress... 
Most notably, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally (early August) will fill almost every room in the Hills and for 150 miles around. 
Check your dates.        

If you are seriously into dinosaurs, the Museum of Geology at the SD School of Mines in Rapid City 
and the   Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City are two of the top in the nation.  

             Don't miss Mt Rushmore... .
             The night lighting ceremony is worth special planning.

             Check your maps closely. A *few* roads in the Hills
             are not wide enough for big RVs and trailers.

             Other things in the Black Hills...

             Mt Moriah Cemetery (in Deadwood)
             Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Potato Creek Johnny,
              and Preacher Smith are buried there. Before you go, check at the Bullock Hotel
             for directions to Seth Bullock's grave.
             Seth haunts the hotel, according to NBC's Unsolved
             Mysteries.

             Kevin Costner (yes, THAT Kevin Costner) owns the
             Midnight Star Casino and (the attached) Jake's restaurant.
             He was building a $100 million resort in Deadwood
             which would have it's own railroad spur from the
             Rapid City regional airport. (2006 info - Lacking investors. Don't count on it .)

             Deadwood has legalized gambling, which makes
             it real busy all year long. Kids are not
             discouraged, but there is not a lot for them to
             do. They cannot be near enough to *reach* the
             machine, if you are playing.

                       Note: In the rest of the state, "Casino" generally
                       means alcohol and video poker games. Fancy word
                       for Bar or gas station that sells beer.

                       The half dozen Indian Casinos, located on tribal
                       land at various locations off the
                       interstate, are for real.
                       Slots, Black Jack, Poker, food and
                       entertainment... popular with bus tours.
                       Cheap (or free) Limo rides available from most
                       major SD towns.

SD skiers head for Terry Peak and Deer Mountain in the winter.

             In Lead, (pronounced LEED) ... North America's largest
             (Homestake) Gold Mine. (Now closed, and soon to be a large underground 
	scientific experiment)

             Custer Park and the Needles Highway, Sylvan Lake
             and Lodge, Spearfish Canyon, Roughlock Falls...
             great scenery...

             Wind Cave Natn'l Park... tour the cavern, see the
             buffalo herd. Do not approach the buffalo herd.
             

Devil's Tower (Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
             just across the border (100 miles) into Wyoming...

             Crazy Horse Memorial, mountain carving in progress, and the Indian's answer 
            to Mt Rushmore... so big, that
             Mt Rushmore could fit under the Indian's arm.
             Near Custer.

             Black Hills Balloons, in Custer - hot-air balloon
             rides - (tell Bauer that Rick, the pilot from the
             Mitchell balloon museum said Hi)

             Bear Butte State Park, on the eastern edge of the Black
             Hills. "Hike to the top of the Sacred Indian Mountain"  the
             brochure advertises. The White Guys versus the Indians
             again. In truth, a very sacred Native-American place. 

             Black Hills Institute of Geological Research
             (Hill City) in the news recently, because of 
	     Sue, the $8 million dinosaur...confiscated by the SD National Guard,
             because of claims she was found on state,
             rather than private, land.

             Climb Harney Peak, highest summit between the Rockies and 
	     the Alps...
             see 4 states. Keep an eye on your kids.
             They lost one there (honest) for 5
             days, in May '95. Trails are well used,
             I dunno how it happened...

             My little girl liked the Cosmos - one of those
             anti-gravity places when she was seven, and still thought it was great when she as 19.  
Water runs uphill. Actually, I've never talked to anyone who wasn't mystified by the place. 
One of the least-touted and most fun attractions in the Black Hills.  
16 miles south of Rapid City. Probably takes an hour including the tour.

             1880 train ride in Hill City.

             Evan's Plunge (pool and natural hot springs),
             and the enclosed Mammoth site (excavation) in Hot Springs...

           The obvious place to try is Sylvan Lake Resort 605.574.2561
             Mountain-top retreat, Indian motif, executive rooms,
             martinis on the veranda... also hiking, fishing, mountain
             climbing, a family place.

             Blue Bell Lodge - western guest ranch
             605.255.4531

             Legion Lake Resort - family spot, economy cabins,
             lakefront atmosphere 605.255.4521

             State Game Lodge - historic hotel used as a summer
             retreat by Coolidge and Eisenhower  605.255.4541

             All of these are located in, and operated by
             Custer State Park.  Reservations also at 1.800.658.3530

             The Alex Johnson Hotel in Rapid City  1.800.888.2539
             and the Franklin Hotel, in Deadwood 1.800.688.1876
             are "historic" favorites.

             Another place we've been, the Palmer Gulch Lodge,
             on the road to Mt Rushmore. 

            They are a BIG
             campground and RV area, but do have some
             secluded housekeeping cabins. Nightly bus
             tours for the Mt Rushmore lighting,
             horse rides to the top of Harney Peak.
             Kids quickly congregate near the video games and gift shop.

             The Sturgis Motorcycle Classic and the Days of '76
             (in Deadwood) fall on consecutive weeks in August.
             500,000 bikers. Make sure your room is booked well in advance. Can fill up every room in the Hills and for 150 miles around.
             Usually well-behaved, but adds to the general
             clutter. There is no motorcycle helmet law.

             On a rainfall map, South Dakota is the same color as
             Arizona. Real Dry.  
           Temperatures in July can be way over 100.
             Real Hot.
             In the winter, sometimes 20 below zero. 
             Real cold.
             And, always the wind.

             In the winter, buy gasoline with 15% corn-alcohol (Ethanol). Every gas station
             has it. Helps to reduce moisture in fuel lines, and you
             won't need to add a product for that, such as Heet.

             In the hottest parts of the summer, avoid gas with alcohol (Ethanol).  It has the reputation
             for causing vapor lock, causing your car to stall, on very
             hot days.

             Enjoy South Dakota


             Copyright 2007 by Rick Geyerman
             shopkeeper@DakotaMainStreet.com
             -or-
             RickGeyerman@mit.midco.net
             
             May be downloaded for individual use, but may not be
             reprinted without express permission of the author.

             All rights reserved.