South Dakota

It was my long time dream to visit South Dakota. After the fall of Saigon in 1977, a Lutheran church sponsored my father into the United States where he settled in this midwestern state. Dad reminds us time and again how fortunate we are to be given this chance to start a humble life in the new land. It is this reminder that I tend to take life far too seriously and often carry with me a sense of restlessness and wandering. Lately, I've come to accept that these traits are essential ingredients for both a creative and productive drive when going through life.


This monumental work of the four great U.S. presidents by sculptor Gutzon Borglum looks impressive carved into the mountainside. Standing about 60-feet tall from left to right are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln. There were various observation points around the Black Hills where one could obtain a unique perspective of the structure but I chose this generic frontal view to mark a fulfilment of a place I once dreamt of visiting.

My second destination was to the Crazy Horse Memorial, but once there at the entrance gate, I learned that the construction was not yet completed as it was done through private funds so I decided to explore The Badlands instead.


The North American grassland biome shows some beautiful landscapes such as these giant rolls of dried-up grass. At one point, I couldn't resist the urge to pull over my Dodge Caliber rental and got out only to be confronted by thousands of live grasshoppers just so I could get a feel of these cylindrical six-feet tall rolls.