The Dakotas

I’m going to be honest…the Dakotas are a bit of a blur for me. It was raining on and off the whole time so we had to cram the few activities we had planned into a couple of jam-packed days. Now, keep in mind, we’re really just making our way up to Alaska and checking off a few things on our list as we go so we will eventually be back in the Dakotas to see more!

Since there really wasn’t a whole lot we could do during our time in the Dakotas this go around, I’m grouping them together into one post.

South Dakota! We didn’t get to see Mount Rushmore this time around. We will definitely be doing that before it’s all said and done though. In South Dakota we stayed in Fort Pierre which is right across the river from the State Capital, Pierre.

Every time we crossed the river we switched time zones. It got to be a joke for us. In the movie The Mummy with Brandon Fraser, there’s a part where a boat they’re on goes down and half of them are on one side of the river and the other half end up on the opposite side of the river. The good guy calls out to th bad guy, “You’re on the wrong side of the river!”…Anyway, that phrase was said quite a bit and we all laughed every time. Yes, we’re those people.

Fun fact…Pierre is the second smallest State Capital.

Not so fun fact…there’s not much to do there and there’s almost no cell service.

Fort Pierre and Pierre (seen in the picture above) are really quite picturesque! We went up on some of the surrounding hills and found some great views of the cities of Fort Pierre and Pierre. There are pheasant everywhere! They’re like the armadillo of The Dakotas! For some reason they like to stay right by the road…and yet I didn’t get a single photo of them.

We stayed near the ruins of the original Fort Pierre. There wasn’t really much to see. A rock with a plaque in the middle of a grassy field. There was a sign that told where they thought everything was based on a wall they found.

The State Capitol Building in Pierre was very ornate! The inside was richly decorated in golds and marble with murals and plenty of mosaic tile flooring. It really was very pretty. I’m a sucker for a good dome and this State Capitol Building didn’t let me down!

We did make it to the South Dakota Culture Heritage Center! We spent an hour looking at all of the history of the state. If you ever get a chance to go into one of the Culture Centers you really should. The ones we’ve found so far have been free (donation appreciated) and have been really spectacular museums! I won’t post up all the pictures I took (I took more than I probably needed to), but I’ll share the tee-pee with y’all. All three boys enjoyed walking through the tee-pee!

In North Dakota we stayed in Menoken. It’s a small town east of Bismarck (the State Capital). It was a teeny tiny town with zero cell service. I will say this about the RV park we stayed in…it had the cleanest and best bathrooms we’ve come across so far. The bathrooms had wall heaters! Guys, that’s huge when you’re trying to shower and it’s cold outside! Oh! And the showers were free! It really is the little things in life…

In North Dakota we went to see Sitting Bulls grave site and we found Fort Manuel. This fort…sheesh it was hard to find and then when we finally found it, it ended up being closed. Plus, the guy’s drive way we had to go down to get to it…he was less than amused. We still walked around it and enjoyed the views. Here are a few photos from the Fort.

They think Sacagawea (Sakakawea in the Dakotas or “Jane” by Lewis and Clark) is buried nearby. There wasn’t a headstone or a grave site so I’m kind of doubtful that she really is.

We did find Sitting Bulls grave site on a Reservation, but we felt weird being there or taking pictures…so we looked and left. The vibe of the Reservation wasn’t what I would call welcoming and the whole area around the little monument we found was kind of in disrepair.

On our way to Montana, we made one more stop in South Dakota! Theodore Roosevelt National Park is the very first official NP site we’ve been to on OurRVTrip!

We did the scenic drive and stopped for a couple of quick hikes! The wildlife at TRNP was so amazing! The Badlands were full of bison, prairie dogs and wild horses! We drove right by the big bison in the bottom left photo above. And Guys, there were some people getting out of their cars to try and get selfies…with the bison…the wild bison.

The views and vistas we found were all postcard worthy!

Alex and Nicholas became official Junior Rangers! Ranger Amy was the absolute best! You can really tell she loves her job. Because of her, Nicholas has now decided he wants to be a National Park Ranger. For our first NP visit and the first JR Badges for the boys to earn…I think this NP unit was perfect. We’ve definitely all gotten the National Park bug now.

So there you have it. Our time in The Dakotas!

We’re currently in Montana and will be taking this week at a more leisurely pace since we only have one thing on our list to see for the whole week!

See ya on the road!