SOUTH DAKOTA PLAINS, DINOSAUR PARK & WALL DRUGS

Before leaving Spearfish we took a morning bike ride along the bike path. Riding in the other direction from yesterday, we wound through a more forested area, and a picturesque wood rail fence, and by a golf course with overhead netting to prevent errant golf balls to land on our head.

Along the trail there are several benches and all seem to be set there as a memorial for someone. This particular one was more decorated than others and gave sweet memories for one who must have been quite the Horseman. The path ended near our campsite with the rock wall that I found interesting.

Leaving Spearfish we headed further east and made a stop at the Dinosaur Park thinking we would send photos to the Grandboys, E&A, as they are very into dinosaurs. So into them that they were not impressed by our stop or this park or the photos because these were not real dinosaurs. I don’t know where they think we will find real dinosaurs, but Susan and I know that this is a stop we would not have done except for photos for the boys. Susan at least did find a tee shirt for each of them, but I imagine they may not be impressed by those either since the T-Rex on the shirts is not real~

The best part for us was the walk/short hike up to the top and seeing the creature through the trees.

Onward now to the Black Hills and Wall Drugs. Susan and I have both and each been here at least once in the past but needed to remind ourselves about it.

There are more things in one place here and it is bigger, but the idea is a bit similar to other old Western towns — Winthrop WA and Old Town Sacramento come to mind — with all kinds of shops to take your money. Wall Drugs is kind of a city within itself and there are definitely more shops and with lots more choices of things to ogle over and to do. We did have Bison burgers for lunch and then did some play time in their back yard for photos.

Susan rode the wild Jack-alope and ran from the Bison. I chose the more daring wild bronco ride ;’-).

Now it was time to head for a home for the night.. It had been a long and somewhat boring drive through the plain South Dakota Plains, and we were ready to be done for the day, During her research for our trip, Susan had discovered a camping option at a Fish & Wildlife area on the Missouri River just outside of Chamberlain SD. We checked out the camping option and Susan got so excited to see all the Mayflies which is a good sign for good fishing on the river.

Mayflies, a fly fisher’s dream…

Susan is not equipped to fish in South Dakota (no license) and though it was a fine place to camp, we were disinclined to spend the night in such a remote place as the only campers. It just did not feel quite safe enough for us so we followed our instincts and drove back the mile to Al’s Casino which allowed overnight stays in their parking lot. It was very quiet and we had a pleasant and restful sleep not fearing someone might attack two geriatric women camped alone by the river!

From Al’s, ordering a salad for our dinner, I was able to use wifi to post on my blog, and now we say goodnight from Al’s Casino.

BTW: Gas in SD is $3.14 ($2 CHEAPER than at many places at home). $3.84 has been the highest we have paid since WA.