South Dakota - Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Mt. Rushmore

After leaving the Badlands, we made our way to the far western side of South Dakota. The first thing my family saw here was The Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy Horse was a Native American leader who fought against the U.S. Government at The Battle of Little Bighorn in June 1876. In 1948, Korczak Ziolkowski agreed with Native American tribal leaders to began work on the monument. However, Mr. Ziolkowski refused to take funds from the U.S. Government, so the monument is still uncompleted. Mr. Ziolkowski is now dead, but the project is continued by his family.

Crazy Horse Memorial

After visiting The Crazy Horse Memorial in the morning, we made our way to Custer National Park. This area is full of nature. Specifically, herds of American buffalo are allowed to rome free here, and their numbers are preserved.

American Buffalo at Custer State Park

Also, tame burros are in the park. They hang out by the road hoping to get snacks from tourists.

When we were there, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was taking place. There were hundreds of motorcycles everywhere. People come from all over the world to attend this motorcycle festival. There were lots of interesting people to talk with to say the least.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rider at Custer National Park

After leaving Custer National Park, we drove through the Black Hills National Forest. It was a little scary though because the road is really high up, and it is very narrow. There are some really cool rock formations on the road though. Also, we got to drive through a really tight tunnel. We also visited Lake Sylvan, and walked around the lake. The rock formations here are also really cool.

Bee at Lake Sylvan

The final day, we went to Mt. Rushmore. It was interesting to see because it's so symbolic of America. We are raised seeing this image all the time, so I was glad I go to see it in person. After visiting Mt. Rushmore, we went to Wind Cave National Park. I wasn't very impressed though. It was really wet and moldy, so I started coughing. There are much better caves to visit.

Mt. Rushmore

South Dakota - Sioux Falls, Corn Palace, Badlands

After going to the family reunion, my father, my mother, and I took a road trip to South Dakota. It was my first time going, so I was really excited. I absolutely love road trips.

The first place we stopped was Sioux Falls. This was a key area for the Native Americans. Unfortunately, we were unable to go really close to the falls because there had been lots of flooding. They had to let sewage into the Big Sioux River, so the water was contaminated.

The next place we stopped was the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota. The first Corn Palace was built in 1892. The entire building is covered with corn. The corn is made into art murals. I think it's absolutely crazy the things they can make with just corn.

These bugs were everywhere at the corn palace. I guess they were attracted to the corn.

The Corn Palace - What you see is all corn.

After going to the Corn Palace, we made our way to the Badlands. These are like crazy land formations made from the eroding of rock. This was my favorite place on the trip. Everything was so desolate. It was so cool to see.

My dad at the Badlands. We went on this really cool trail. You had to climb up this really steep hill. The gravel slides really bad too. We talked to a park ranger, and apparently, when it rains people aren't able to come down from the hill because the ground turns into almost an oil-like substance.

This is at the top of the hill we climbed.

This is a Big Horned Sheep. Park rangers introduced them to the Badlands. All of them are fitted with collars, so they can be tracked.

Visit to America

This summer, I went home to America for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. When I first arrived home, I went to St. Joseph, Missouri for a family reunion on my mom's side of the family. Every three years, we have a family reunion during the summer. This was the main reason that I returned home, so that I could see the family members, which I hadn't seen for three years. Our family members come from all over the United States and even Canada, so I think it is an amazing thing that everyone can come together.

This is a picture of me, my baby cousin, and my great uncle, Ralph. If you look closely, you can see my grandfather in a blue shirt in the background. At every reunion, awards are handed out. I got the award for traveling the farthest, my baby cousin got the award for being the youngest, and my great uncle got the award for being the oldest.

I thought these were really cool. Wind power is becoming very popular in America. There were at least 100 windmills in this area.

Also, in America, we do something similar to Obon. When family members get together, they often visit relatives' grave sites. This is what we did at the reunion. My mother's maiden name is Veale, so we visited some graveyards with Veale relatives.

This is the grave of my great great grandfather and grandmother.

Henry Clay Veale 1850-1918 and Eliza Jane (Easley) Veale 1850-1931

This is the grave of my 3rd great grandfather. He moved with his family from Virginia to Missouri prior to the Civil War.

Elam Clay Veale 1805-1872

Singapore - Day 2-5

Day 2:

The second day that we were in Singapore, we decided to see the Botanical Garden. There were so many amazing plants there. Also, what is even better is that it was free. I especially liked the orchid garden. Also, there were lakes and lots of pathways. Many people were enjoying the weather there. Also, you could walk through areas which were like preserved rain forests.

After going to the garden, we went swimming at my friend’s apartment complex. He’s really lucky because he has an Olympic-sized swimming pool with his apartment. It is really difficult for me to get to a pool in Japan, so it was nice to have one right there. That night, my friend's parents took us out to a local outdoor food court, which was interesting to say the least. It seemed like a lot of the food sat there for a long time.

Orchid Garden in the Botantical Gardens

Day 3:

The third day, we made our way to Sentosa Island, and just chilled there. We lay on the beach for a really long time. I’ve been a bit sun deprived lately, so it felt amazing to just bask in the sun. The beach was all man-made, so the palm trees were all perfectly placed. It’s really strange. That evening, we ate Pizza Hut. I miss pizza so much!!! After that, we went to see the movie “Inception.”

Beach on Sentosa Island

Day 4:

On day four, we went to Chinatown for souvenir shopping. Also, we went shopping on Orchard road. There are multiple topshops in Singapore. It was like heaven. Apparently, a new flagship store is opening in Shinjuku though. I hope it's just not as expensive as the one in Harajuku. That night, we went to the best restaurant ever. It was all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. It included meat, vegetables, dessert, and drinks. It was so cheap. I’ve never felt so sick in my entire life from eating so much food, but it was so amazing.

Chinatown


The all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ Restaurant and my friend from university in Scotland


This bathroom was crazy. It had about 1000 mirrors and was inside a really expensive department store.


Orchard Road Shopping

Day 5:

On the final day, we went to the zoo, which is one of the best zoos I’ve ever been to. There was so much space, and monkeys kind of run free. There was an elephant show too. The entire place was amazing.

Julie (Kambara's old ALT) and me


Zebras!