Mount Rushmore

Thursday

We went to the Mt. Rushmore Memorial today.  The weather prediction was cool and cloudy with rain in the forecast. Fortunately, we were forehanded enough to bring jackets and a few clothes suited to this weather than the 90+ degree days we had before this.  It started sprinkling on the way there and we got our first glimpse of the faces as we passed a historical turnout.  By the time we got to the Memorial fog had settled in and we walked the Avenue of Flags through a heavy mist.  We spent most of our time on the lower level with the exhibits that show the creating of the sculpture, went back to the upper level to peruse the gift shops and get some lunch which seemed fearfully expensive to us.  The fog remained the rest of the morning, as it continued to rain more heavily.  As we were leaving the rain let up, the clouds rolled away and we saw the faces wet with rain and we went on our way, noting the clouds hugging the tops of the hills.

Jim has never seen the faces at night so we planned to go if the weather was nice, i.e. not raining.  By the time we got back to our hotel after visiting Rushmore Cave,

Stalactites

the clouds were rolling away, the sun was out, and in the stillness we were the warmest we'd been all day.  As we drove up, up again, the fog again made it’s presence known and as we walked from the parking lot to the amphitheater, the program was beginning and that Avenue of Flags seemed interminable as we hurried along. The faces were obscured again with fog and we wondered if we would see the faces lit up in the dark at all. It is an inspiring program, telling the story of the visions of the four presidents represented there and their role in the creating and building of this country.  It is a story that reminds of us of why we should be proud of our country and the role it plays in the world. Yes, it’s a story that touches only the highlights, good and bad of this country’s history.  Yes, there were things done in the history of this country that we look on with regret.  But, do any other nations have a people where the majority of this look with great pride on the country they call their own?  These men, and others mentioned in the tribute to the United States of America had a vision of what America could be, and it was up to the people to make it so.  These men wanted this country to be “for the people, of the people, by the people…." Abraham Lincoln.  As JFK said, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”  That program made me proud to be an American, and the tribute to those who give their lives to defend this country is a reminder, that if we want to have the freedom our forefathers envisioned, we will need to remember JFK’s words.

Just as the speaker finished his words about the presidents roles in our history and presented the faces to us by lights in the darkness, the fog rolled away and the faces were lit up for the rest of the program. It was an awe-inspiring sight. 

 

Bear Country

Thursday

Bear Country isn't just about bears.  There are other animals to see, too.  I think the majority of us like to see some of these animals up close that we'll never have a chance to see in the wild. It can be dangerous to be close to some of these in the wild.  

Elk rubbing the velvet off his antlers.

Serenade by arctic wolves.

This gray wolf was the only one who didn't insist on blocking the road.

A little zooming gets a close shot.

Magpies like hanging out with big animals for the bugs.

A female pronghorn.

Peccary

I didn't know porcupines were so cute.  Look at his little snub snout.

Bobcat

The lower two cubs spent their time fighting or playing still in the tree.

Obviously they are better than I would be about not falling out.

I can't remember what this cute little thing is.

I always enjoy watching otters play.  It was feeding time when we were there and after eating this big feast of fish, they took a nap in their log.

After several hot days, this one wasn't.  It was cloudy and cool enough we were glad for jackets, and I was especially glad I brought a long skirt and socks!  

 

1880 Steam Train--Keystone

Wednesday

I remember going on a train on that 1977 family trip to South Dakota and I always wanted to go again.  Riding this steam train was the highlight of our trip.  We rode in an "enclosed" car on the trip from Keystone to Hill City, and an "open" car on the way back.  Enclosed means it has windows that can be closed, the open has no windows at all, just big openings.  Either way is a very enjoyable experience.  When we ordered our tickets online, it was suggested that we change sides on the second journey which we did.  We also changed who got the window seat, so I took pictures one way, Jim did the other.  

The scenery was magnificent.  There are all sizes of rocks, some are huge hills of rocks, some hills have rocks and trees scattered all over.  I think they do some tree management here and keep the trees spaced a bit, by cutting and making tipis of cut logs and branches and burning them in non-fire spreading weather. 

We had a guide tell us about different mining camps in the area and other interesting things, like the log tipis.  We took our train ride there and back with only a 15 minute break.  We wished we had given ourselves some time to look around Hill City. We could have gone back, but we didn't.  There is only so much time. And only so much energy.

 

I wonder if I would like these big rocks in my backyard.

This is the open car with someone else already loaded up.

Coal Smoke

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Part of the wye for the narrow gauge rail.  This was mining country so plenty of railroad travel.

Going down grade, the engine lets off steam to purge the lines from the boiler.  We were close enough to feel a little mist.

Engine 110

We poked around Keystone in the afternoon, but cut this day short and went to bed early, completely tired out. 

 

Needles Highway and Wildlife Loop

More Tuesday

I bought a new camera earlier this year because my other one was never the same after I dropped it at Lorene's graduation in 2018, one week into owning it.  I had the lens replaced, but it had problems and was no good at taking action pictures.  I began to wonder if the problems were the camera or the dropping, so I did a test with Dad's camera, same kind.  Well, it didn't take very good action pictures either, but mine was worse.  So, I saved and saved and bought this one just before our trip to Columbus, OH, for a John Deere Show.  On this day, my battery was giving out, so I plugged it in the car, and put it back in the camera when we wanted to take a picture.  There were some pictures I didn't take, but I don't know how many photos of rocks I really need.  We drove almost all of the wildlife loop except the part that has the pigtail bridges and three more tunnels. We had time, we forgot. 

Smokey Hills

Cathedral Spires

Wildlife Loop through Custer State Park

Another tunnel

The red in these rocks is iron oxide--rust.

Another bison

Pronghorn Antelope

 

Bones and Buffalo

Monday

We spent the afternoon at the Mammoth Dig Site in Hot Springs, SC, the night at the Super 8 next door and supper at Woolly's Grill and Cellar.  Expensive of course, steakhouses generally are and more so in a place by a motel. They didn't have an extensive menus, but Jim got his favorite, a slab of prime rib and I was able to make a meal from the 'salad and side' bar.  The baked potatoes were especially good.  Jim brought part of his prime rib home.  We are both trying ot eat less and it's beginning to show.  We can't eat as much as we used to and we both lost weight before we started this trip.  We are wondering now, just how much we'll bring back with us. 

We were at this spot in 1986 and it wasn't such a big commercialized tourist attraction then.  I don't have a clear memory of what it looked like then.  Since we were there, they have dug out many bones for their archives and for other museums and archeologists as well.  Jim was more interested in how they dig out the bones, an ongoing tedious and careful work.

A whole mammoth skeleton

On the Road to the Crazy Horse Monument

We intended to drive north through Wind Cave State Park on the way to Mt. Rushmore, but a road closure changed our plans and we turned away from there and went toward the Crazy Horse Memorial instead.  That is one of the benefits of having no set itinerary.  

Smoky Haze 

 

Coyote

The first of the buffalo

Crazy Horse and Sylvan Lake

Crazy Horse

In 1977 my family took a trip to the Black Hills and my dad wanted especially to see the site of the Crazy Horse Monument. All there was to see was the flat spot for the top of the arm and the hole, smaller than it is today.  In 2006 we took our children to the Black Hills and stopped here and were lucky enough to witness a blast. By that time the face was finished.  This year, though from the distance it looks the same, the top of the hand is finished.  This time, we took the bus to the base of the sculpture, giving us a slightly closer view and an informational talk about the stone, the vision and the future.  I won't see it done in my lifetime.  My opinion is that they should finish the arm and the horse's head and call it good.  

The original air compressor--Kaput

Sylvan Lake

In 1986 after Jim helped me move my things to Rushville for my one year of teaching before we married, we took a day trip up to see Mt. Rushmore and stopped on the way at Sylvan Lake.  I remembered it as a beautiful, quiet place with no one around.  This year, after paying a state park permit, we drove all around trying to find a place to park; parking lot, full; sides of the road; full. Eventually we saw someone pull out, and we found a place.  There is a huge gift shop, an eatery, a place to rent canoes and kayaks, and a walkway all around. And people!! Scores of them! It's still a beautiful place, but not as beautiful when it wasn't commercialized.  

We decided to see if we could walk around the lake and found this little slit in the rock.  On the other side were steps down to the bottom of what used to be the waterway until it was dammed and turned into Sylvan Lake.  

After we got home my daughter reminded us that she went rock climbing in this same place one time with her friends.  I don't think I ever had any picture in my mind that it was HERE.  Sylvan Lake to me was the calm, blue, pristine place I saw in 1986 and my family trip in 1977.  At the right side of this photo is the easier place to climb.

Swimming place.