Sylvan Lake - Custer State Park, South Dakota

At the end of the Needles highway sits this incredibly beautiful place.  It has to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  I would like to have been there earlier than our 10:30 am arrival to see it with the water perfectly flat with no wind.  It was just coming up when we arrived. There is a trail all the way around for tourists like us and today we brought Jake and he loved it.  We even met some people who said they have a dog that looks just like him which is hard to believe as he is about 4 or 10 breeds all mixed up!  So, here are the pictures -

I did NOT enhance the color - it looked just like this!

Now you see them -

Now you don't!  Very skinny cut in the rocks.

 

And our last little tunnel.

Needles Highway - Custer State Park, SD

After all the activity with the Bison and the Sheep we headed for the Needles Highway. I had been told not to miss this and had seen a couple of pictures but I still was not prepared for the incredible awesomeness of it.  I will let my pictures talk for me - come with us on our tour!

And we finished with the smallest tunnel ever! We even had to fold in the mirrors on the truck as the tunnel was so narrow.  But so fun!

A friend of mine used up all her space on her blog with her photos.  I am afraid I might do that too.  I guess if that happens, I will just go find another place to blog!  Enjoy the photos!

Mount Rushmore National Memorial, South Dakota

I I never really thought I would be personally standing below and viewing the beauty that is Mount Rushmore.  What an honor to be able to take these pictures.  Thank you, Peter Norbeck, Lincoln Borglum, Gutzon Borglum and Doane Robinson for your vision and your gift to the world in this wonderful sculpture!
Wikipedia has great information if you want to read about it.  CLICK HERE.

Badlands National Park

We left our campground at 6:30 am this morning to try to capture some of the early morning shadows in this incredible place.  

The sun was up before we were so even at 7:00am there were not too many shadows.  I think we were a couple of hours late!  Even so, this park is a place that is not to be missed.  The loop is easy to drive, there are numerous pull out to view the wonderful vistas and if you go early the crowds are not there!

Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires surrounded by a mixed grass prairie eco-system. The mixed grass prairie is a transitional zone between the tall-grass prairie to the east and the short-grass prairie to the west.

The Badlands were formed by the geological forces of deposition and erosion. Deposition of sediments began 69 million years ago when an ancient sea stretched across what is now the Great Plains. After the sea retreated, successive land environments, including rivers and flood plains, continued to deposit sediments. Although the major period of deposition ended 28 million years ago, significant erosion of the Badlands did not begin until a mere half a million years ago. Erosion continues to carve the Badlands buttes today. Eventually, the Badlands will completely erode away.

Here are just a few of my photos!  I had such a hard time choosing from over 100! This place is just so awe inspiring and a photographers heaven!

Click on any picture to enlarge it.

North Carolina Arboretum

Since it was so close we decided to visit the North Carolina Arboretum.  The flowers were in full color and the trails were in great shape so we had a wonderful morning for our visit.

We didn't see any place that looked good for our picnic so we drove about a quarter of a mile down the road to Bent Creek Park.  This small park is located right where Bent Creek flows into the French Broad River and is used mostly by fishermen who fish from the banks or can launch their small boats from the shore.

This was probably way to easy a picture to get as I think his short life was about to end.  He just sat there and let me take his picture.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Since the Blue Ridge Parkway is just around the corner from us we took our dog, our lunch and our hiking boots and headed out for a day of ooh’s and aah’s from up to 5,000 feet.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so I am not going to say much here except to tell you that the whole drive and each view was magnificent.  The hiking trails were a bit challenging to old people but we loved it so much!  We hiked two different trails and they were both gorgeous!  By the end of the day all three of us were exhausted and happy!

This was the first trail we took.  It was switch back after switch back and very steep!

There were many, many places to pull over and enjoy the awesome views.

Because they aren't blooming yet, you may have a hard time believing me when I tell you that this tunnel is made up of Rhododendron!  Is that amazing or what!  I would like to be back here next month when they are blooming!

We finally found a waterfall!  I know that there are many in this area, I just don't know where they are!

Looking Glass Falls on Hwy 276

We finally reached an altitude of over 5,000 feet and the trees were just beginning to leaf out.