For those of you who are unfamiliar...
allow me to tell you a little bit about Rapid City

Rapid City lies in the Southwest corner of South Dakota, just below what we find to be the most beautiful place in the U.S., The Famed Black Hills. One of our favorite activities is the exploration of the Black Hills and as you view these pictures, we are sure you will see why!

First, a picture of "The Needles, one of our favorite hiking places and part of one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. Paha Sapa. Lakota Sioux for "hills that are black." But that's the surface translation. The deeper translation is "the heart of everything that is." Seen from a distance, the Black Hills, rising several thousand feet like sentinels above the surrounding prairie, do appear to be black. But enter inside, and these hills are a region of color and variety, magnificent scenery and constant adventure.

The Black Hills cover an area 125 miles long and 69 wide in western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming, roughly 1.2 million acres. They include rugged rock formations, canyons and gulches, open grassland parks, tumbling streams, deep blue lakes, and unique caves. The Black Hills have a long, sometimes turbulent history. These mountains have power, or, as South Dakota conservationist Peter Norbeck commented, value beyond gold. For many people, from past and present Native Americans to today's visitors, the Black Hills have been a special place for physical and spiritual renewal. Trees and plants from Rocky Mountains, eastern woodlands, northern forests, and the Great Plains areas can be found in the Black Hills. Of the 1,585 plant species found in South Dakota, 1,260 species are in the Black Hills. The forest cover and forage sustain a wide variety of birds and four-legged animals, including elk, deer, bighorn sheep and mountain goats. The Norbeck Wildlife Preserve is a good place for wildlife watching. Established by Congress in 1920, the preserve covers about 35,000 acres, 25,000 of which are managed by the Forest Service. Most of the rest is part of Custer State Park, home to the largest buffalo herd in the U.S.


You will also find the Famous Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills of South Dakota.














As well as Devils Tower, Famous for the Movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

And of course, The Badlands, where (as Randy says) "Real Men Play Golf".

I hope that you have enjoyed our little pictorial of this spec of the earth that we call home....