Rapid City, SD

We spent a night in Sioux Falls at the beginning of summer and we were really impressed.  Little did we know that when we would visit Rapid City at the end of the summer we would be even more impressed with South Dakota! 
We visited the Rapid City area for Mt. Rushmore (which was breathtaking) but there was so much to see and do we didn't visit the monument until the third day we were there!  As my wise cousin put it, "You will run out of money before you run out of things to do."  :)  We spent a week in the area and are already planning a second visit because we didn't get to see and do everything we wanted to. 
We started out our visit with a trip to Windcave National Park.  We went 30 stories underground and spent about an hour and 30 minutes.  I never once felt claustrophobic or frightened.  It was so magical and beautiful, it completely took my mind off of where I was. 
Throughout the ensuing week we went to Jewel Cave (which is a National Monument but no less impressive and very different from Windcave), Mt. Rushmore, Needles Highway in Custer State Park, Devil's Tower (in Wyoming), The Badlands National Park, the Minuteman Missile Site, Wall's Drug, Bear Country USA, Sturgis, Deadwood and last but not least, a chuckwagon dinner!  Whew!  I'm tired just thinking about everything we did!  :)  Not to mention, we found a very authentic and VERY yummy Himalayan food restaurant (Khatmandu Bistro) in downtown Rapid City.  It alone is worth a second visit.  As I write this, I can't wait to get back to Rapid City in the future!