Day 18 - 8/2/2004 - Rattlesnakes???  Where????

A dry night for a change (OK, it involved a motel), and Hunter had two hours of swimming.  We headed off for White Butte, the highpoint for ND.  That has it's own story and pictures, so follow the link below for more details on that.

Click here for White Butte story and pictures

White Butte in short was simple, short, and we never saw a rattlesnake (but we did encounter cows with an attitude).  After the highpoint, we headed south towards Rapid City SD.  On the way we stopped in Bowman SD for some great burgers.  A local gave us a great shortcut that took us by Bear Butte (yes, Hunter giggled and called it "Bare Butt").  We went through Sturgis SD, where they were preparing for the big motorcycle rally starting this weekend (Aug 7th?).  Harleys were EVERYWHERE.  Hunter wants me to buy a hog and come back next year.  I'm not sure he's old enough to fully appreciate the flavor.  The folks there were very nice, and Hunter bought a Sturgis T-shirt (that should be a conversation piece at school!)  We went down toward Keystone SD, and stopped at a plywood maze that was fun.  You had to walk through the maze, and stamp your ticket at 4 stations, and then find the exit.  They say it takes 1-3 miles of walking to find you way out with all of the stamps.  Hunter and I were out in about 40 minutes.  They actually have to go in after some folks, and they also have emergency exits (when you can find them).  We made it down to Keystone and found a campground that was nice.