We stopped at Ft. Kearney in Nebraska on our way to Minnesota.

It is a State Historical Park several miles southeast of Kearny, Nebraska.
It has a very nice interpretive center with excellent artifacts from the Oregon Trail days, a restored blacksmith's shop, a stockade, and beautiful grounds in which to picnic or relax.

We tried not to embarrass our family members too much, but we just had to bring in a couple shots of Quinn, Brian & Jenny.
Though there aren't many pictures the subject matter is all important.

The Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

The facade is all done with corn, and there's a new design every year.

It's pretty amazing what folks will think of to get attention.

Chamberlain sits in a nice rolling valley along the Missouri River and was a stopping point for Lewis & Clark.
We really enjoyed the replicated keelboat and talking to the men who man these as they recreate the route of the Core of Discovery.

The first area we visited was bleak and parched.
We did a little hike called Notch Trail. It was only about a mile to an overlook, but we were baking in about 120 on the floor of the valley. Notice the nice little ladder part.

After the hike we just drove through the park, and there was a lot of green.
Buffalo were everywhere, and there's a section called Robert's Prairie Dog Town.
Hundreds of mounds and prairie dogs popping out of holes or diving down into holes. Or just standing up and chirping.

After we left Badlands Park, we stopped by Wall Drug, another tourist trap of renown.

After the Badlands, we continued to head west to get to our next tourist site, Mt. Rushmore.

We found a cute cabin in Hill City, SD at Creek Side Resort.
It had a miniature golf course and a little stream out back for fishing. Looked like it would be a lot of fun if we had more time.

But we were in serious TOURIST MODE so no fooling around. Get a night's sleep then on to the giant heads

Next stop after Mt. Rushmore was either Jewel Cave or Wind Cave.

Jewel was closed for the season, so we headed to Wind Cave National Park for a cave tour.

Part of our drive down was on the Peter Norbeck Scenic Highway. It winds down through to Custer State Park, a really lovely place we would like to do again.

The tour of the cave was a couple hours off, so we drove through the park.

Lots of critters - buffalo, deer, and tons of prairie dogs. Also, mangy coyotes.

Yes, they have mange. There's a study being done on them to determine just why they have mange. They're pretty scruffy looking as you can see.

Ever since "Close Encounters of The Third Kind" I've wanted to see Devils Tower. I was not disappointed.

It's a beautiful piece of nature and the surrounding park is a joy to walk through.
We strolled along the short path that encircled the Tower.
Took our time enjoying the various views of the monument and the pine forest through which the path meanders.

One of the things we noticed immediately was how peaceful and calming the area is.

Being history nuts, we naturally had to stop at Little Bighorn Battlefield.
We bought the CD and did the interpretive drive, which has been updated and includes the Indians remembrances.
It's very sad to see how bad leadership and arrogance lead to so many deaths.

After Little Bighorn we headed to Yellowstone National Park.

We took 14A from Sheridan to Cody, a rather scenic route.
Lots of twists, steep grades, and great scenery.

The weather turned windy, wet and a little snowy, and at the top of the mountains we got a couple great shots, including a huge cloud that seemed to sit on the mountain.

We stayed the night in Cody, then back on the road to Yellowstone.
We took the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway and got to the NE Entrance of the park around 10:30.

That first day we saw mountain sheep wandering the road, Tower Falls, elk, and a couple bears (from quite a distance).

We drove over to Canyon Village thinking we might stay at the lodge there, but it was closed for the season.
We did have lunch and get a shirt for Quinn, then drove around some more.

We stayed the night at Yellowstone Lodge in West Yellowstone. Very nice folks running it.
This is a nice little town and I wish we were spending more time just looking around but we're pretty tired.
By the time we finished dinner we were ready for bed.

Somewhat rested we are set for Day 2 of the Yellowstone Expedition.

It takes forever to get anywhere because people are crawling along the road looking at things.

Or else a buffalo is strolling down the middle of the lane, and you don't pass a buffalo.
We figured they have a morning meeting to decide who stops traffic and poses for tourists. The loser has to walk the streets.

We also saw Gibbon Falls, Beryl Springs, Artist Paintpot, Norris Geyser Basin, and took Mammoth Terrace Driver

We drove south along the road heading out of Yellowstone, stopping along the way to see various sights.

Naturally more elk and buffalo. They're everywhere.

But we also saw Firehole Falls, Firehold Cascades, Old Faithful (it wasn't going to erupt for a couple hours so we left), Fountain Paint Pot, and Kesper Cascade.

Yellowstone is amazing, and to really see it all would take more time than we have so we must move on.

Our next destination is the Tetons.

As we were driving into the park we took some photos of the mountains before we checked into Colter Bay Resort.
Yes, you have to look at them, it's part of the reason you're here right?
We had a lot more mountain shots and I could have put them all here, so just be happy there are only a few.

We checked into The Colter Bay Resort.
Our cabin was very old one and would have been nice, but the temperatures dropped into the 30s, and all it had was a little wall heater which stood no chance against a 2 inch crack under the door and linoleum floors.
I was so cold I couldn't sleep. I ended up sitting on my pillows on the floor in front of the heater.

After my cold uncomfortable night at our cabin, we checked out and headed out for some hiking.

We decided on the Jenny Lake hike.
It goes to Hidden Falls, then on to Inspiration Point, and along the Cascade Canyon trail for as far as you like.

You can take a boat across the lake, which we did, and start the hike from there.
The boat ride is fun and gives a nice view of the lake area

Our last day in the Tetons, so we wanted a really good hike.
The weather had warmed up nicely and the sun was shining.
What could be better than something called Death Canyon?

Getting to the trailhead was a little tricky.
It's somewhere off the narrow dirt road which had multiple parking areas but no signs, so we weren't exactly sure where the trail started.
We just kept driving and driving until we actually made it to the right parking spot.

We did the one called The Phelps Lake Trail.
It winds around and eventually takes you down to Phelps Lake.
There are some steep climbs coming back up, but nothing requiring handrails or scrambling. Just a little steep.

At the end was Phelps Lake.
We stopped there to eat & rest before heading back out.
On our way back we saw this really interesting bird crossing the trail.
I have no idea if it's a ptarmigan, quail or grouse, but I've added it to the site hoping someone can tell me what it is.
It had feathers down it's legs if that helps.

Our last morning in Jackson (also known as Jackson Hole. We didn't do too much sight seeing around town, but we did get in a shot of the antler arch. There are actually a couple at each end of the square in town.

We had a great time on this trip. We managed to see just about everything we wanted, and it gave us ideas for other trips.

South Dakota is a jackpot of tourist attractions and interesting small towns. Jackson Hole needs further exploring, and we didn't get to hike nearly as much as we would have liked. But now we have some idea of what each area holds and next time we can concentrate on just one or two places.