Hey you guys! Thanks for joining me on another adventure. I am still in/near Sturgis, South Dakota this week. There are so many things to do in this area. We rode the motorcycle around Custer State Park, which is quite lovely. On the Wildlife Loop in the park, we watched some buffalo butt heads and some baby buffalo play. It definitely got our hearts racing to have so many buffalo that close by when we were just on the motorcycle! We got a camping cabin for only $45 a night at Custer Crazy Horse Campground in Custer, South Dakota. It’s a really nice campground not too close to (and not too far from) the chaos of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Haha. The campground referred us to Baker’s Bakery & Cafe for breakfast, and we could see why! It was absolutely delectable! I got the smothered breakfast burrito, which had been featured in a Rachael Ray magazine–I can totally see why. April got the caramel sticky roll, which was just about perfection–not even too sweet. (We had breakfast there twice; it was that fantastic.) We went to Jewel Cave National Monument, which we discovered is the third largest cave in the world right now. It was an awesome experience to journey through the cave! Our ranger was full of interesting facts, and spunk. 😉 We actually had to go the second morning, because the afternoon we first went, they had sold out of tickets for the cave tours. Keep that in mind if you are wanting to go. We rode the bike to Keystone, South Dakota (another beautiful drive) and walked its old western-ish streets, taking in the sights and sounds and smells. One cool place we stumbled upon was Dahl’s Chainsaw Art; his work is incredible! It was a fairly hot (and more humid than SLC) day, so we headed to the Hippie Hole. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, so it was quite the journey! While a very pretty drive, we had to do several miles on dirt roads with ruts & rocks. Then we didn’t realize the hike to Hippie Hole was such a sheer descent, hopping boulders and dodging poison oak and crossing side sections of the river. We haven’t sweated that much since our days living in Florida! April was especially challenged, as she deals with vertigo when it comes to heights. She said it was the hardest hike she has ever done. Once we finally it to the Hole, we took in the amazing scenery and chatted with others there. I made my way over to the jumping spot while April stayed behind to film. After watching some of the young guys take the plunge, and one girl slip off the waterfall (scary!), I went for it and JUMPED!! Holy cow, that was such a rush! Climbing the rope back up proved to be a bit challenging, but I managed. As clouds started to roll in, we figured we better high-tail it out of there. I was impressed with how swiftly April scurried up the mountainside. We dashed out of there as fast as we could on a dirt road on my Yahama adventure bike–I mean Cruiser. Haha. We stopped at Mount Rushmore on the way back to the campground because it looked like the heavens were about to open up and pour buckets. We enjoyed our visit there, and it never did rain. (Do note that you can’t use your National Parks Pass at Mount Rushmore; it’s free, but you have to pay for parking.) What an absolutely amazing time we had taking advantage of the things to do near Sturgis, South Dakota!!
