South Dakota Vacation

In May of this year, I went on a week-long vacation with my family to South Dakota. We saw as much as we could in that time, but that's not to say we were rushing from place to place. It was fun, educational and relaxing. Plus, it was just great to spend time together.

The scenery in South Dakota, the further west you go, is so much more than what I expected. The clouds seemed closer than I ever remember seeing. The landscape is awesome, but also hard to describe in words. Pictures can show you a lot but experiencing it has no comparison.

I was surprised at how much gambling goes on in South Dakota. I'm not exaggerating too much when I say that it's everywhere. Some areas have more gambling than others but after a week it's hard to not recognize its strong presence.

I have to make a conscious effort not to type out every moment / movement on the vacation, so here is a quick list of places we went: Mount Rushmore National Monument, The National Presidential Wax Museum, Crazy Horse Memorial, Wind Cave National Park, Black Hills scenery/byways (Needles Highway / Needles Point), Deadwood (Nelson's Garage Car Museum - Mount Moriah Cemetery), Devils Tower (Wyoming), Sturgis (for lunch), Geographic Center of US, The Badlands, Wounded Knee Museum, The Mammoth Site, Wall Drug, SD Air and Space Museum (outside Ellsworth AFB), Corn Palace (saw the exterior of the building), Pioneer Auto Museum, Sioux Falls Zoo...

There are more places but I can't recall at this moment what I'm missing. I don't doubt that once I post this, I will be reminded. I'll add those later. And maybe some pictures, if some come my way.

Though not all places and activities are for everyone, I would recommend South Dakota as a vacation destination. I would go again. Oh, and remember, don't approach the buffalo (bison)!

Link of Interest: South Dakota Tourism

Thanks for reading.

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