We landed in our wintering spot late last year and we both got to working on projects around the trailer so I am very far behind on the blog. Let's start to get caught up.
We last left Devils Tower in Wyoming and drove east into South Dakota which was a new state for both of us!
En route to our next destination, we made a stop off in Sturgis, South Dakota to check it out. This town gets overwhelmed with motorcycles once a year in August with concerts and parties.
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| During Sturgis week this is how it looks. |
Luckily we were not there during the yearly rally. I just wanted to see the area so we parked the truck and trailer and walked around the little town. The town was pretty dead with most bars/restaurants closed. It appears that some are only open for the rally.
Our next stop was a Cabela's to dump our tanks. Cabela's is RV friendly and some locations allow for over night stays and an area to dump holding tanks and take on fresh water. We were headed to an Elks lodge in Rapid City and not sure if we would have hook ups so we decided to "freshen up" our tanks.
There was a $5 fee to dump our tanks since we didn't have a Cabela's credit card or we could buy something in the store to cover the fee. I found some moon pies for $1.50 each so we each enjoyed a treat and saved $2 to dump our tanks.
We arrived at the Rapid City Elks lodge and found a site with hookups so we got parked and set up for the night.
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| View from our site on top of a hill looking over to Norm and Kim's Rig. |
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| Our view |
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| Our hill for a week |
Our first day of exploring the area we went to Custer State Park. We stopped to admire the beautiful reflection on this still lake.
Then it was off to Mt Rushmore, a bucket list item for me. We got parked in the garage at the park and walked around the construction then up to the plaza and walked towards the monument.
Along the plaza walk there were flags from every state.
George Washington, First President of the United States
Born 1732, died 1799. Washington led the colonists in the American Revolutionary War to win independence from Great Britain. He was the father of the new country and laid the foundation of American democracy. Because of his importance, Borglum chose Washington to be the most prominent figure on the mountain and represent the birth of the United States.
Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States
Born 1743, died 1826. Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, a document which inspires democracies around the world. He also purchased the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803 which doubled the size of our country, adding all or part of fifteen present-day states. Gutzon Borglum chose Jefferson to represent the growth of the United States.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
Born 1858, died 1919. Roosevelt provided leadership when America experienced rapid economic growth as it entered the 20th Century. He was instrumental in negotiating the construction of the Panama Canal, linking the east and the west. He was known as the "trust buster" for his work to end large corporate monopolies and ensure the rights of the common working man. Borglum chose Roosevelt to represent the development of the United States.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
Born 1809, died 1865. Lincoln held the nation together during its greatest trial, the Civil War. Lincoln believed his most sacred duty was the preservation of the union. It was his firm conviction that slavery must be abolished. Gutzon Borglum chose Lincoln to represent the preservation of the United States.
Next we walked the Presidential Trail to get a closer look at the Presidents.
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| Washington and Lincoln visible from this angle |
Along the trail there were placards with interesting information about each of the four presidents.
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| This message is still relevant today! |
We had a beautiful blue sky day for our visit!
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| A nice and early moon rise |
There were exhibits to tell the history of the project which were interesting.
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| Sculptor's Studio |
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| George Washington's profile is visible from the road. |
While at the park I completed another Junior Ranger program and was awarded another badge.
Next we drove the short distance to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial.
The idea for this memorial came from Chief Henry Standing Bear, from the Lakota Tribe. Standing Bear is reported to have spoken on behalf of the elders when he invited Korczak Ziolkowski to carve a Memorial to honor his people. It began on June 3rd, 1948.
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| View from the parking lot |
The mission of ©Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation is to protect and preserve the culture, tradition and living heritage of the North American Indians. The Foundation demonstrates its commitment to this endeavor by continuing the progress on the world’s largest sculptural undertaking by carving a Memorial of Lakota leader Crazy Horse; by providing educational and cultural programming; by acting as a repository for American Indian artifacts, arts and crafts through THE INDIAN MUSEUM OF NORTH AMERICA® and THE NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL CENTER®; and by establishing and operating THE INDIAN UNIVERSITY OF NORTH AMERICA® and, when practical, a medical training center for American Indians.
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Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski |
The sculptor and his wife, Ruth, had 10 children. The boys grew up helping their father on the Mountain, the girls assisted their mother in the ever expanding Visitor Complex. Everyone helped with the dairy farm, the lumber mill, and the multitude of other year-around activities at Crazy Horse, where, since 1947, the construction has never stopped.
This family dedicated their lives to this project and their children continue to this day.
The Memorial is financed by admissions and contributions and does not accept federal or state funding.
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| Scale Model of Crazy Horse 1/34th Size of Mountain Carving. |
"By carving Crazy Horse, if I can give back to the Indian some of his pride and create a means to keep alive his culture and heritage, my life will have been worthwhile." Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski
Korczak arrived in the Black Hills on May 3, 1947. He worked on the project until his death on October 20, 1982, at age 74. During his nearly 36 years of working on the Mountain, he refused to take any salary at Crazy Horse Memorial®. He is laid to rest in the tomb that he and his sons blasted from a rock outcropping at the base of the mountain. He wrote his own epitaph for the tomb door and cut the letters from steel plate.
It reads:
KORCZAK Storyteller in Stone
May His Remains Be Left Unknown
Even though Crazy Horse is not a National Park, they had a Junior Ranger type program so I got another badge.
One day we went to visit Custer State Park.
and I earned a Junior Naturalist patch after completing the booklet with information found at one of the visitor centers.
Along the Wildlife Loop Road we hoped to see lots of wildlife. Around the half way point, we saw our first animals. There were these donkeys looking for free handouts. People rolled down their windows and let these guys stick their heads inside. We were not interested in any parts of getting the truck dirty!
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| Donkeys waiting for the next handouts |
A little further down the road we came to the buffalo corrals. Once a year at the end of September there is a big event where they round up all the buffalo in the park and bring them to this area for the winter. Once the buffalo are corralled, they count the animals, examine the young, and vaccinate them. Some are sold off to keep the herd count manageable within the park.
Before finishing the full loop, we stopped off at the Summer White House of Presidents Coolidge and Eisenhower.
Those rocking chairs were calling us so we purchased a couple of iced teas and sat on the porch and enjoyed the view and the weather.
Well apparently they didn't round up all the buffalo. These two were hanging out by the dining hall of the hotel near by!
Back at our campsite we had beautiful sunsets.
Some nights we gathered with our new friends, Norm and Kim, and enjoyed happy hour and the sunsets.
@MountainBeaches on Instagram or http://mountainbeaches.com/
They have some YouTube videos of the area where our trailer makes a slight appearance near the end. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1jF9t80CB80fzsAkRltEAA
Custer State Park is so big and has several sections so we set out to explore more. This time we went up to the Sylvan Lake section to do some hiking.
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| We followed these gnarly railings down the steep bolder filled trail. |
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| It is definitely fall! |
Our our way back from the trail, we stopped off for a lunch break and sat on a rock overlooking Sylvan Lake. Luckily our hike back did not bring us up the same route as we hiked down. I'm not sure I could have climbed back up all those boulders. Even with the railings! Some spots were very steep!
After the hike we drove back along the appropriately named Needles Highway as we were the thread driving through the "needles".
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| We had to pull the side mirrors in in order to make it through the eye of the needle of this tunnel. |
Needles Eye Tunnel was 8'4" wide.
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| Then we had hair pin turns like this! |
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| Iron Creek Tunnel was 9' wide! |
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| Downtown Custer, South Dakota |
One day we drove back to Rapid City to visit the downtown area.
A series of life-sized bronze statues of our nation's past presidents greet guests to Downtown Rapid City. These life-sized bronze statues are a tribute to America's heritage and give those who are shopping, dining or walking a historic reminder of the legacy our nation's presidents have created.
When we stayed at Linda's Alpaca Farm back in Wyoming and were helping her with some projects on her ranch, we accidentally took one of her hammers. It looked just like our hammer. So, now that her hammer is with us, it's on vacation from the ranch and we take photos of it at various stops. Our visit to the presidential statues in downtown Rapid City was it's first stop. We had fun posing the hammer with some of the statues.
If you missed the Alpaca Farm entry: https://imagineourrvdreams.blogspot.com/2020/10/fishing-in-cody-and-our-stay-on-alpaca.html
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| President Richard Nixon |
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| President Jimmy Carter |
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| President Bill Clinton |
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| President Gerald Ford |
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| President James Madison |
Behind some of the downtown buildings is an Art Alley.
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| President John Adams |
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| President Franklin Roosevelt |
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| President Ullysses Grant (You didn't know he had a hammer along with his sword!) |
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| President Barack Obama |
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| President George W Bush |
After some beautiful fall weather, it changed very quickly to winter type weather. It was very windy on our visit to downtown with a storm blowing in. The next day we got some snow so we hunkered down and kept cozy warm inside the trailer for the day. Luckily there was no accumulation as the storm blew through quickly.
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| The storm! |
On our last day in the area, we drove on Iron Mountain Road. There were more tunnels to navigate through but these were a bit wider. It's best to drive this road south to north.
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| As we were diving through one of the tunnels we got a view of Mount Rushmore! |
Peter Norbeck, a South Dakota Governor and US Senator who was involved in securing funding for the Mount Rushmore Memorial, was also responsible for setting aside land that became Custer State Park. An awesome park!
Iron Mountain Highway is part of the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway.
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| There is a pig tail on this road! |
We pulled over at a viewpoint to get this different view of Mt. Rushmore from afar.
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| Part of the pig tail |
Imagine this view as you're driving along the byway. Just incredible!
We did one last hike before we left the area.
It was an easy hike until the last quarter mile or so but it was worth the extra effort to get to the top.
Back at camp for our last night. The weather is turning cold and VERY windy so it's time to find some warmer and calmer temps.
Although we didn't make it to Badlands National Park due to the change in weather, we did get to check off a few items from our bucket list by this visit to the Mount Rushmore area. What a great area!
Now it's time to get out of town and find some nicer weather quick!
Oh nooo...I fell out of the trailer around Mount Rushmore!
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to check off more of your bucket list!
OK ... let me keep reading to try and catch up with you!