I decided to complete my quest to hit all 50 states by the time I turned 50, so I booked a quick trip to the Dakotas. Actually, I was 46, so I achieved it with time to spare. Madeline and I went to Rapid City, SD and spent a couple of days there, then drove up to Dickinson, ND to capture my last two states. The Black Hills and Badlands areas are both beautiful. What we saw of ND was quite boring.

8/20/08-8/24/08—The Dakotas

Washington’s head is 60' tall

While parts of the Badlands were deep canyons, other parts were steep mountains. As a Paleontologist once put it, "Fancy yourself on the hottest day in summer in the hottest spot of such a place without water - without an animal and scarce an insect astir - without a single flower to speak pleasant things to you and you will have some idea of the utter loneliness of the Bad Lands."

I hold up my hands, indicating I made it to my 50th state

We came in on a Wednesday and hopped in our convertible Mustang, driving right to Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills area. Afterwards, we went to Rushmore Cave, checked out a winery and Christmas shop, then returned to Rushmore to see them light the monument.

In Rushmore Cave

Sunset in the Black Hills

Entering the National Monument, we noticed the moon that was setting over the tower.

Part of the interesting landscape of the Dakotas