Road Trip April - Day 23

April 4th 2026 (Saturday)

Woke up to glorious sunshine, though there is still snow on the ground and clouds rolling in, but no more being lazy its a day to go exploring.

First stop was to the local Camping World just outside Raid City as Fred had some parts to pick up to fix the noisy fresh water pump. Then it was supermarket shopping, where we picked up a rotisserie chicken for lunch, so now it was a case of finding somewhere nice to have lunch!

As it was just down the road we decided to go to the South Dakota Air & Space Museum, we had a quick bite to eat then went to have a look around the museum. It's free entry and I was surprised just how much was here to look at, outside there were numerous planes & rocket exhibits and inside there were two very large rooms full of artifacts and memorablia. You can easily spend a couple hours here and it was free to go enter! Very impressed.

Entrance to the South Dakota Air and space museum

One of the many exhibits inside the South Dakota Air and Space Museum

Another airplane on display at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum

From here we decided to travel down to Hot Springs as there is a Mammoth Museum that looked interesting, entry is very reasonably priced and we were both surprised just how BIG this excavation site is, it is incredibly interesting with lots of information detailing the dig and the all the remains they are finding. It's very informative and well presented, and wheelchair friendly, too. You really need to allow yourself more than two hours to really get the full benefit of everything that is on display. The site itself has lots of learning for all ages from assisting to the ongoing digs to children's hands on activities, it's really worth making the trip.

Inside the Mammoth Museum looking down on the unearthed remains

A Section of the Mammoth Museum, it is much bigger than you think

From here we went to find the waterfall that I had seen listed in Hot Springs, turns out it was incredibly easy to find being beside the road, however it wasn't the most exciting one to go and see, maybe after a good rain storm perhaps. We did however find a nice antique shop close by where we were tempted with a couple of purchases.  

One funny thing we witnessed as we were leaving Hot Springs; we watched 3 dear walk across the road, nothing unusual in that, other than each one of them crossed over on the zebra crossing (or crosswalk as they are called here)! I'm so pleased I captured some of it on camera & video. It was very amusing. Then it was on to find waterfall #2 Cascade Falls which we only find out about from a road sign as we entered Hot Springs.

3 deers crossing the road at the zebra crossing

Cascade Falls is a very pretty waterfall that is over several sections, with crystal clear water. It is a lovely spot and plenty of picnic areas, I'm guessing that during the summer months is gets very busy, we however had it all to ourselves today.

As it was such a beautiful evening we decided to stop & have dinner here. Unfortunately I met with a slight mishap when I deeply sliced my finger open with the super sharp, serrated bread knife instead of cutting the baguette, that I was trying to slice for dinner! Luckily plenty of kitchen roll & Gorilla tape made for a makeshift bandage and I was patched up enough to enjoy dinner and the evening sunlight.

And so it was time to return to the campsite. Today has been another amazing day, all unexpected, as we hadn't any plans as to what we were going to do, we just let the day unfold and as such it has been a lot of fun and we've seen some interesting places. We love these kind of days!

Road Trip Day 23 - we've driven approximately 155 Miles today!