South Dakota is one of the state located in the mid west of United States. It is located on the East side of Montana. It is well known for Mount Rushmore with 4 most influential president carved on the mountain. There are also 2 national parks located within South Dakota and these are Badlands National Park and Wind Cave National Park. These national parks may not be as famous as Yellowstone National Park in the neighbouring state, but it still attracts tourists across the country.
To get to South Dakota, the drive time is quite long. We decided to take 2 days to drive to there. On day 1, we first drove to Spokane and had brunch as Yards Bruncheon. It was a great brunch after a long drive. After the brunch. we continue to drive East and stayed at Butte for a night.
On day 2, we left the hotel early at 5AM in the morning. Before we started the long drive, we got some drinks from City Brew Coffee. Then we drove 8 hours to get to Devil's Tower. Devil's Tower was an interesting place and we learnt a lot about the native tribes. Afterwards, we drove 2 more hours to finally get to Rapid City. While we were on the way, it was pouring heavy rain like crazy. Many cars actually pulled over to the side to wait for the rain to stop.
On day 3, we woke up early to go to Badlands National Park to see the sun rise. It was a beautiful and amazing national park. We then went for a hike at Notch Trail. We really had a great time there. After we drove back to Rapid City, we went to Longhorn Steakhouse for a good steak dinner.
On day 4, we first went to the famous Mount Rushmore. It was a great place to learn the history of United States. Afterwards, we went to Custer State Park and had a good hike at Sylvan Lake. Later in the afternoon, we went to Wind Cave National Park and did the Natural Entrance tour. It was an amazing experience.
On day 5, we went to Badlands National Park again to see the sunrise. I was just beautiful. Then we went back to Wind Cave National Park for the Candlelight Tour. This tour is even better than before because we walked in the dark with just candlelight.
On day 6, we left the hotel early and drove to Jackson. After 4 hours of drive, we first got to Casper and had brunch at Egginton's. Then after 4 more hours of drive, we finally got to Jackson. After settling down at the hotel, we went into the town and had an amazing ice cream at Gourmet Moo's Ice Cream.
On day 7, we went to Grand Teton National Park. We had a hike around Jenny's Lake and ran into the moose on the trail. In the beginning, we only saw a big black furry animal and we were worried that it was a bear!
On day 8, we woke up very early and drove 12 hours all the way back to Portland. It was a tiring drive, but we were glad to be home.
This was the longest drive we have ever done and our first time driving so far East. It was a great experience we learnt a lot about history!
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