I’d been near the Badlands before…at night…on Interstate 90. Though just a few minutes from the Interstate, the Badlands are a completely different place…especially in the daytime. Before entering Badlands National Park I made an obligatory stop at Wall Drug. If you’ve ever driven through South Dakota on Interstate 90, […]
My #100by100 Project is focused on National Parks – seeing 100 National Parks by the time the United States National Park Service turns 100 on August 25, 2016. So when someone suggested that I stay in Custer State Park (CSP) during my visit to the Black Hills in South Dakota, […]
Located just 30 miles from Jewel Cave National Monument is the completely different underground world of Wind Cave National Park. Wind Cave became the United States’ seventh National Park in 1903. It was discovered only a few decades earlier in 1881 by Jesse and Tom Bingham. The brothers were on […]
Did you know that many of the world’s largest caves are found in the United States? The third largest is in South Dakota – Jewel Cave National Monument. Jewel Cave got its blinging name because of the calcite crystals that cover the walls and ceilings of the cave and shimmered […]
It’s that time of year again. Everyone is making resolutions and hitting the gym while I’m recollecting everything I watched last year. I’ll be honest. I didn’t plan on making this list for 2015. But due to my list in 2013 and 2014, someone requested another list for 2015. This […]
Happy New Year!!!!! I welcome 2016. 2015 was rough. Some really awesome stuff happened though: I wrote a book, visited over 30 National Parks, visited my 49th state, reconnected with lots of old friends and made new ones on 20+ trips around North America, and I got back on stage […]
When I think of mountainous states I think of Colorado. Or even the Sierra Nevada of California. Or the Appalachian of the east. But I don’t think South Dakota. I always found the term “Black Hills of South Dakota” puzzling because I didn’t think there were hills there and Mt. […]
I used a map to plan my trip through the Dakotas. A real, paper map. One of the things that scares me the most about the digital revolution is that there will soon be entire generations that don’t know how to read a map. So I embraced the chance to […]
Visiting the Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit from the North Unit also involves a bit of time travel. The Units are an hour apart. The North Unit operates on Mountain Time. The South Unit operates on Central Time. I arrived the same time I left. Whoa. Mind blown! Theodore […]
On February 12, 1884 a 25 year old Theodore Roosevelt became a father. Two days later, his wife died. Hours later, his mother died. Devastated, Teddy soon set off for North Dakota. One of his main goals was to hunt bison, but he became intrigued with the cattle industry and […]
When you think “North Dakota,”what comes to mind? For me it was space. A flat expanse covered by prairie grass, corn, and as of recently, oil fields. Something I didn’t think of was rivers. But North Dakota has them. In fact they have two National Park Sites along rivers. I […]
I made it back! A week ago I returned from 10 days in North and South Dakota. It was a solo trip and could not have gone any better! I had an amazing time and I can’t wait to share all of the places I discovered with you. As incredible […]