On July 24, our caravan (Jon pulling their massive camper and Cathy driving her car) moved from Medora, ND, in the badlands, to the Black Hills, SD, where we spent three beautiful nights in a primitive campsite in Custer State Park at Bismarck Lake.  The lake was so scenic and peaceful that we spent a lot of time just lounging around in the immediate area, but of course we also took some side trips to some of the area’s famous attractions, including Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial.  We also attended a festival in nearby Custer City, where an annual celebration was occurring.  The event that was the primary draw for us was a “bed race”, in which teams of four pushed beds upon which single passengers rode.  The race was conducted in heats, with two teams competing at a time.  At the starting signal, the teams would rush a short block down the street and around a pylon, where they would pause while one of the pushers from each team would rush to a plastic wading pool and snatch a watermelon and run it back to the passenger to carry as the team raced back to the starting line.  A surprisingly large crowd lined the street to watch this bit of innocent silliness.

On another day we visited scenic Sylvan Lake, formed by a narrow but high dam placed in a gap between massive boulders, with the result that the boulders effectively constitute most of the dam. The place is spectacularly beautiful.  We also had lunch at Sylvan Lodge, where we celebrated Jon & Cathy’s anniversary.

On the way back to Bismarck, ND, we experienced a different kind of beauty as we passed through the grasslands of western South Dakota that are punctuated with occasional buttes. 

All in all, it was a very satisfying visit to the western Dakotas.