{"id":1791,"date":"2012-08-09T22:18:11","date_gmt":"2012-08-10T03:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/?p=1791"},"modified":"2012-08-12T20:50:11","modified_gmt":"2012-08-13T01:50:11","slug":"rushmore-and-custer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/2012\/08\/09\/rushmore-and-custer\/","title":{"rendered":"Rushmore and Custer"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wouldn’t have guessed that the most expensive part of our trip would be in southwestern South Dakota, but it was. I expected that such a remote place would have affordable hotels, but because the area is so beautiful, it has become a vacation spot and thus expensive. We certainly enjoyed our time in the area.<\/p>\n

We decided to beat the crowds and head to Mount Rushmore first. When we arrived we found that the visiting area has been entirely transformed since our stop there 18 years ago. The monumental entrance, massive gift store, and huge restaurant are designed for large crowds of tourists. <\/p>\n

<\/font>\"120718817tb<\/a><\/p>\n

Mount Rushmore from the first entrance<\/em><\/p>\n

\"120718854tb<\/a><\/p>\n

Bethany with the four presidents<\/em><\/p>\n

\"120718864tb<\/a><\/p>\n

Tourists who arrive on a bus don’t get this view from the forest.<\/em><\/p>\n

While I enjoyed our time at Mount Rushmore, including the loop trail along the base, my preference is certainly more along the lines of a secluded lake in the mountains. We ate lunch here and I imagined what it would be like if I never left.<\/p>\n

\"120718871tb<\/a><\/p>\n

Some lake in the Black Hills<\/em><\/p>\n

Just south of Mount Rushmore is Custer State Park, home of prairie dog villages, pronghorn antelope, and one of the largest bison herds in the world.<\/p>\n

\"120718882tb<\/a><\/p>\n

Bison in Custer State Park<\/em><\/p>\n

\"120718892tb<\/a><\/p>\n

Bison not afraid of man in car with camera<\/em><\/p>\n

This looks like a scene out of the Old West.<\/p>\n

\"120718901tb<\/a><\/p>\n

Bison in Custer State Park<\/em><\/p>\n

We ended the day with a spectacular view from the summit of Mount Coolidge.<\/p>\n

\"120718920tb<\/a><\/p>\n

View to east from summit of Mount Coolidge<\/em><\/p>\n

This was my favorite day of the trip so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wouldn’t have guessed that the most expensive part of our trip would be in southwestern South Dakota, but it was. I expected that such a remote place would have affordable hotels, but because the area is so beautiful, it has become a vacation spot and thus expensive. We certainly enjoyed our time in the\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1791\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toddbolen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}