09/12/21 Sunday Mt. Rushmore Trip Day 12 Beaver Lake Campground

09-12-21 Sunday Mt. Rushmore Trip Day 12

Beaver Lake Campground

Casper, SD

Site I

Today was a camp utility day. I did laundry and Barry had a few things he wanted to get done, mainly installing the new RViBrake3 on the jeep. We need this done before we leave on Tuesday. He also worked on the kitchen leaky water line (it was only leaking a little), and the wiring on the jeep so the interior light goes on. While I did the laundry I wrote and published one of my blogs since I’m a few days behind. 

We had a late lunch of leftovers. Then we left for town. I wanted to do some shopping and take pictures of all the buffalo statues on each street corner. They are so cool. I only took pictures of the ones I like. The buffalos are painted in different designs. 

My Favorite

     

After a bit of shopping and an awesome Root Beer Float, we headed out to Needles Highway. It’s a very windy road.  Below is a description from different sites I found on Google. We drove through the Needles Eye tunnel. What an experience. The tunnel is 8' 9" wide by 9’8" high tunnel (it feels a lot narrower when driving through).

The Needles Highway is more than a 14-mile road—it’s a spectacular drive through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen, and rugged granite mountains. The road’s name comes from the needlelike granite formations that seem to pierce the horizon along the highway.

The roadway was carefully planned by former South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck, who marked the entire course on foot and by horseback. Construction was completed in 1922.

The drive was so beautiful. The rock formations are like nothing I have ever seen. I loved all the birch trees. I’ve never seen so many, and they are beautiful when there are hundreds in an area, just unbelievable. We also saw many deer. I’ve never seen that many deer before. It truly was a breathtaking drive. If you ever decide to visit South Dakota, you must take this drive. 

We arrived back at the camp site around 8PM. Barry built another awesome fire. We had a few glasses of wine while reviewing the day. As stated before, there is nothing like ending a day with a campfire. 

Goodnight all. 

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