Ellsworth AFB - South Dakota; Wind Cave National Park

We visited Wind Cave National Park and were lucky enough to get tickets for the Entrance Cave tour. The Wind Cave is one of the longest and most complex caves in the world. It is named for barometric winds at its entrance. The passages are home to boxwork which is a unique formation that is rarely found in any other caves. On our way down to 210 feet, there were narrow pathways and many times we had to duck our heads. 

The cave was discovered by in 1881 when brothers Jesse and Tom Bingham were drawn to a small hole in the ground by a loud whistling noise. In time, scientists would determine that the wind blowing in and out of the cave is caused by a difference of air pressure between the inside and the outside of the cave.

The Wind Cave gained national attention in part due to an adventurous 16-year-old teenager named Alvin McDonald. The Alvin family moved from Iowa to South Dakota in 1890, and while his parents worked, Alvin would frequently skip school and venture out to explore the area when he found the opening of the cave. 

Alvin began exploring the cave carrying a candle and tying a ball of string to help him find his way back to the entrance. He spent hours exploring and kept a journal. He named the passageways and drew the first map of the cave. He also gave tours of the cave to the locals and charged a fee. Unfortunately, he died of typhoid fever at the age of 20.

The cave is known for its delicate boxwork, popcorn and frostwork cave formations. which a quite different from the massive stalagmites of caves in the East. 

The wind cave became a National Park in 1903 and is the 7th oldest National Park.

The pictures are pretty dark but...

Boxwork

Popcorn

Ellsworth AFB - South Dakota; Custer State Park

Custer State Park was AMAZING!! Absolutely beautiful drive. If you have never seen this beautiful park it is a must see! 

On the scenic drive around Custer State Park there are 6 different tunnels. 

We saw some antelope and some wild donkeys/burros.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous even though it was cloudy. The pictures definitely don't do this place justice!!

 

Next time we are here we are going to kayaking in Sylvan Lake. I think Sylvan lake reminds me a lot of Watson Lake in Prescott, AZ. From what I could see there are trails on each of the lake, we walked a little bit of it but it started raining harder so we decided to head back to the car.

Ellsworth AFB - South Dakota; Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Bear Country USA

Ellsworth AFB was our home for 13 days; we got a lot of sightseeing in even though Ernie had his secondary cataracts taken care of and we spent a great deal of time setting up our domicile in South Dakota. Getting our drivers licenses was pretty simple, however you don't register your car and get your driver's license in the same place. After numerous phone calls, running to get documents copied, and a couple of trips to the Pennington Treasurer's office we a got both the Jeep and the RV registered in South Dakota. For those of you wondering why, to register the Jeep in Arizona last year it cost just over $350, South Dakota $142.67 and change. To register the RV in Arizona last year it was right around $3,500, in South Dakota $515.08. 

The Badlands are cool. It reminded me of the Grand Canyon with two exceptions, one they are not as red and they are mountains not a canyon. They were close to the road as we drove through.

On our way to the Badlands we checked out Minuteman Missile NHS and Badlands Ranch Store where we fed some prairie dogs.

For me Mount Rushmore never gets old! I think we have been here 4 times and I still love coming to see it.

Bear Country USA was pretty cool. For my Arizona friends it is like Bearizona but less expensive and I thought the animals were a lot more active.