Hi, I am bad at blogging consistently.

Just popping in to share some last photos and recommendations from our trip to South Dakota...A WHOLE YEAR LATER. Guys, idk what to say. In my defense I was kind of busy this year...had a lot going on that I'll share in a later post. For now, enjoy some great views of the American West, and see below for some of our recommendations from our time in South Dakota.

First off, the parks. We absolutely loved driving through Badlands National Park on the loop road and the unfortunately named Custer State Park. We drove through Badlands and didn't do any hiking, and ended up in Wall, SD- a cute but kind of touristy town that I think I'd skip next visit. Also, don't do as I do and speed through the park (in my defense, I had no idea what the speed limit was...insert embarrassed face here.) 

Custer State Park, which is historically located on land belonging to the Cheyenne people, was by far my favorite spot. While I wish we had been able to do more hiking, I was really happy to be able to explore some of the trails with our daughter. We hit a lot of the highlights, including the Needles Highway, Cathedral Spires trail, seeing buffalo, prairie dogs and wild donkeys on the wildlife loop road, and an easy but beautiful walk around the Sylvan lake. We also made sure to see the Crazy Horse Memorial on the way out (we skipped the other one.) Since we didn't have a ton of time off because it was a work trip for me, we stayed in the park at one of the cabins, which was a little pricey but worth it to be so close by to everything the park has to offer. 

In future visits (either sans kiddo or when E is a bit older,) I'd definitely want to do some longer hikes and possibly some backpacking or camping. I also want to return in the summer, as that's when traditional Lakota powwows, or 'wacipi' take place. There are also opportunities to support local indigenous businesses through tipi stays; you can find more information on that here at the Lakota Youth Stay website.