I forgot to get a picture with my phone of the sites today, so the pictures will have to wait with the rest until I have time to sort through all the files.

We got up early again to make the hour dive to Jewel Cave National Monument. The Cave is near Wind Cave where we went yesterday. Tickets sell out for the day tours by early morning. We arrived just as the park opened and the first tour was almost full. Since the group in front of us had a party of 4 they were sold tickets for the second tour. Kati and I got the last two spots in the first.

We entered the cave through the elevators in the visitor center which take you down into the cave. The Tour is described as moderately strenuous with ~723 steps. The steps are all metal with rails, and we did not find it strenuous at all. Most of the steps are going down and you exit the cave from a lower level than coming in. The cave is massive with lots of different formations, more than Wind Cave. The caves are close in proximity, but they say they do not know if they connect. They are still exploring. I have a feeling if they find out they are not going to announce it. We went as far as 379ft deep into the cave. Our guide was a Park Ranger named Melissa and she made the tour a lot of fun.

After lunch we went to Bear Country. It's a Safari with many different animals, but the main attraction are the bears. They also have a cub den, they were so much fun to watch.

The place was close to our campground, so when the clouds rolled in we drove back to the RV to rest and let the storm pass. They have been getting a lot of rain this year. We timed our outings perfectly that the rain did not interfere with our plans.

Tomorrow we leave Rapid City and head into Wyoming. South Dakota did not disappoint, it is a beautiful place with a diverse landscape and we really enjoyed our visit here.