Adding a New State

I got the opportunity to go to a new state this week, South Dakota! My office mate asked me to go onsite with her for an ARRA construction project. Since I've never been on a construction project and never been to South Dakota I jumped at the chance.

The project was actually located in eastern Wyoming but the closest "large" city was Rapid City so that's where we stayed. The plane ride there was terrifying to say the least.

This is downtown Rapid City. Not a really happening city but there were some cute shops and some yummy restaurants.

The interesting thing about Rapid City is that there are statues on every street corner. Most are of former presidents but there are also a lot of Native American statues. I liked this one.

Another interesting thing in Rapid City is "artist alley" which has lots of graffiti that actually doesn't fit in with the rest of the city.

The snow/rain let up for awhile Wednesday afternoon so we drove up to see Mt. Rushmore. The Black Hills were especially beautiful with a dusting of snow.

This is the entrance to Mt. Rushmore.

We thought they all looked like they were crying.

Danielle and I in front of Mt. Rushmore.

This is the little town (population 311) that Mt. Rushmore is located in called Keystone. If we would have had a little more time I would have explored some of the little shops and especially the President's Wax Museum.

This is what Danielle and I called Mt. Rushmore 2. It was located at a gas station just outside of Mt. Rushmore. If you figure out the connection between JFK, Reagan, and George W Bush and an oil rig let me know! We couldn't figure it out.

Overall, Rapid City wasn't a great time but it was really cool to see Mt. Rushmore and to add a new state to my travels!