A nine-day trip to visit our daughter and son-in-law and explore western South Dakota.
We left home on Saturday morning and spent the night in Iowa.
On Sunday we drove to a spot overlooking the Badlands and camped right on the edge of the wall.
After a beautiful sunrise we finished our drive to our daughter's house. That evening we went to look for some of the family cows and had a great adventure.
Tuesday was the Fourth of July. What better way to celebrate than go to a rodeo! My first rodeo. I chose to enjoy the day without a camera, and phone pics just don't do it justice.
On Wednesday we went to Hot Springs, South Dakota to see the town and unique red stone buildings. The town was almost totally a construction zone so no pics. After that we went to Jewel Cave and took the historic tour. We used battery powered lanterns for the tour and no flash photography to keep with the historic atmosphere. But I did stop on the side of the road and get some great sunset photos with Bear Butte to the left. Bear Butte is a very prominent landmark in much of western South Dakota.
Thursday was a rest day. We did laundry and they took me to a field to find some burrowing owls!!
Friday was my 50th birthday and I got to go to Deadwood and take a drive looking for things to photograph. Turned out to be a great day!! Pics of Deadwood. Got to the top of Mount Roosevelt and some great views. Stopped by the beautiful Lake Pactola. Topped the day off with Needles Highway and some wildlife photography.
Saw some more of this beautiful land we call America on the drive home over the weekend.
This was a great trip! Visiting with our baby girl and her fine husband was a pleasure and they took us on some great adventures!! Thanks guys.
Clicking on a picture brings up a panel that you can scroll through for a larger view.
Sunrise at our Iowa camp.
This little bunny likes to pose for the camera.
The view from our camping spot overlooking the Badlands of South Dakota.
Camp is right between the trail and the cliff!
What a view! Now to watch the shadows grow and hopefully see a great sunrise in the morning.
Watching the evening shadows grow across the Badlands.
Yep, when you're on the grasslands a herd of cattle may just graze through camp.
My first panorama! For prospective, look at the far left ridge, at the very edge of the picture is a van. A little further to the right is a camp. And on the top of the hill is a couple standing to the right of their bicyles.
That is the moon over the camps next to us. I'm not sure about the weird bands in the sky, I don't see them in Lightroom were I edit the pictures. ??
The sun just making its appearance. What a view! Its so amazing to be camping somewhere like this.
A little more sunrise!
The Badlands with the morning light. Very close to the same location as the shadows from the night before.
Went looking for cows with the kids and found lots of prairie dogs. Ranchers really hate these cute little fellas.
Had a couple of bold eagles flying around as we were looking for a way to drive through a creek.
Our tour guides for the week! They did a great job!
My favorite exploring buddy!
Now we know why the eagles were flying around! My wife thought there were vultures in a nest. After taking a picture with the zoom lens and zooming in more on camera I realized they were eaglets! Time to back away and continue looking for cows further away.
Stopped on the side of a road and got this picture of the sunset and Bear Butte.
Our baby girl and her k9 buddy.
South Dakota ranch land and our next photographic adventure.
More crazy prairie dogs.
And this is what we went out looking for. A burrowing owl!! This one seems to share a hole with a prairie dog.
Seems to be an inquizative little fella.
A South Dakota rancher baling hay, an almost never-ending job.
The Deadwood Stage has arrived.
Deadwood South Dakota.
The Sheriff at the Midnight Star
Can't leave town without a picture of a sign.
Bear Butte 17 miles away from Mount Roosevelt, near Deadwood.
A zoomed in view from 17 miles away.
View from along the Needles Highway in the Blackhills.
Another view of the rock formations along Needles Highway.
The Blackhills of South Dakota.
Don't just look out from the overview areas! Turn around and look up. You may get lucky and see some mountain goats and their kids.
They seem to like the views as much as the tourists.
Those white coats are what give them away as you look at the mountains.
Just enjoying the view with the little one.
Watch for the white coats and them jumping around on the rocks.
Wow! A deer in velvet.
Awesome picture of this deer. The way the light hits his velvet and fur on his ears makes him pop out of the background.
These little fellas were just enjoying the sun on their rock. Yellow-bellied marmots according to the Seek app on my phone.
Legion Lake was just beuatiful in the evening light.
