Day 11: Dual Caves (South Dakota)

Today we woke up and found that it was gray outside and raining, so we decided it was a prime day for exploring caves, namely Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park. Before we started out for these parks, we got breakfast at a small joint in downtown Custer. Downtown is pretty cute, it's kind of a little tourist street, like in Newport, but with a western theme. After eating eggs and pancakes, we first drove to Jewel Cave, which was only 20 minutes away.

By this time, it was pouring rain, and when we got there, it seemed like many people had the same idea as us; all of the cave tours were booked until 3 PM. Other than cave tours, there wasn't much else to do at this Monument, so we decided to just take a look at the above-ground exhibits, then try to book it to Wind Cave and get in on a cave tour. Wind Cave National Park was established in 1903 by president Theodore Roosevelt.

We drove the 40 minutes to Wind Cave and were able to get on a 12:40 tour. The tour was about 20 people, and was 150 feet below the surface. We took an elevator which plunged us to this depth in about 8 seconds. At the bottom, I could hear an incessant high-pitched whining noise, which turned out to be the wind pouring down into the tunnel from above, due to the imbalance in air pressure! Wind Cave, I get it now!

The guide was really knowledgeable, and she took us through passageways and talked about boxwork, popcorn, frostwork, paleofill, etc. The temperature was a cool 53 degrees F, which I was appreciative of - I've been tired lately of the 90+ degree temperatures above ground. At one point during the tour, the guide turned off all of the lights, and lit only one sole candle. This was to give us an idea of what the first explorers used, and it was pretty amazing! Then she blew it out, and we were left in total darkness - I couldn't even see my hand an inch away from my face!

After the tour, we checked out the original hole by which the cave was first discovered over a century ago.

After leaving the park, we stopped at a local "Dakotamart" and picked up groceries for grilling later that afternoon. We got back to the campsite and I did laundry. Fun times. Then I started to prepare the meal; I wanted to use the campfire mostly to cook on because I've seen all kinds of cool recipes. I made jalapeno poppers, grilled peppers, grilled potatoes, corn on the cob, chicken, and mac and cheese.

It was pretty fun to cook - the corn and chicken I just wrapped in foil and buried it into the campfire.

Everything else I grilled, and I think it all came out pretty good!

The only thing that failed was the cake. I read a recipe for campfire cake, which involved pouring cake mix into a fruit rind (I only had a lemon), or a tin can. I tried both.

The can burnt to a crisp, but the lemon cake was pretty decent!

We spent one more night in the same campground. Tomorrow we may try to get some of our RV issues fixed and explore Custer State Park.

Random Fact of the Day: You think dandelion weeds are bad where you are?