On The Road to the Heartland

I love to travel!  Of course, if you've been following my "On The Road" blogs, you already know that.  My last couple of trips took me overseas in two different continents - I decided my summer vacation would be right here in the good old US of A - visiting states and landmarks that I've never seen before. Join me on my roadtrip to the national parks!

 

Custer State Park is just south of Mt. Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  There are miles and miles of scenic trails throughout the 71-thousand acre park.  We came across lots of pronghorns (similar to an antelope), the fastest land animals in North America -although they stood pretty still for my camera!

We also came across prairie dogs, a wild turkey and a few high flying hawks.  We did not see any bison, probably the wrong time of day, but we did encounter some very friendly burros!

 

We stopped for a delightful lunch at the Blue Bell Lodge and yes,they serve bison burgers!

We continued winding our way through the park, the roads nestled between the tall ponderosa pines. The views are breathtaking, as the elevation is over 5-thousand feet!

 

The most magnificent site appears as we go through a narrow, one lane tunnel.  As you drive out of the tunnel, you see in the distance Mt. Rushmore.  "O beautiful, for spacious skies...."  Tomorrow we visit this incredible American icon.