Day 10 - Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Deadwood

Today, Saturday, July 9, 2011

                             The more ambitious of our gang went for an early (8:45) morning walk

                      After breakfast and morning chores it was off to see one of our National Treasures:

Mt. Rushmore is truly awesome and inspiring.   Taking 14 years to complete at a cost of almost $1 million of which half were private donations and half government funding.  

The walkway and the State Flag entrance weren't there years ago. Nor was the parking deck we had to park in.   It was just George, Tom, Ted, Abe, us and an asphalt parking lot, all free.  Now it's $11 to park  your car.   More on that subject later.

You can see the Presidents from afar and don't have to pull in and park, which is probably what we should have done.

So on the road again we headed to see how the sculptors of Crazy Horse were doing with their project.

Funded totally by private donations they have been at this since 1948 (63 years).  Of the 4 of us, 3 of us had seen it before and agreed they're not making much headway.

                        Hmm.... I wonder why?   Maybe to profitable to just keep working on it?

No, friends and family.   We didn't make the same mistake again.


We decided to head over to Deadwood and catch a bite to eat since it was so crowded the previous night.  Along the way we ran into a local athletic contest.

                                                  So you know, we had to stop.

                                                           Pam ran into an old "Flame"

                                         It was fun but moved a little slow so we moved on.

We made it into Deadwood and found a place where we could eat on the patio and bring Heidi with us.   A gunfight broke out in the middle of the street during our dinner.  Fortunately, none of us were hurt. 

History buffs may know that Deadwood is where Wild Bill Hickok met his demise during a poker game.  Reportedly his hand was a two pair, Aces and Eights, now known as the dead mans hand.  Bill and Calamity Jane are buried just above Deadwood in Mt. Moriah cemetery.  We drove up there and they are now charging admission to the cemetery!!!   Everybody has there hand out, the Feds, the Indians, even the dead.  We turned around and headed back.  Don't these people know we're on a fixed income!

Tomorrow we head for Devil's Tower in Wyoming and then Little Big Horn in Montana.

Day 9 Move to Sturgis via Badlands and Wall Drug

We pulled out of Mitchell a little before 9am.  Fueled and ready we headed west on I-90 towards Rapid City/Sturgis.  With some unique scenery along the way.

    Missouri River

1880 Town

                                                                                                                           
After about 3 hours (200 miles), a few scenic turn-outs, central to mountain time zone change, we arrived at the 240 Loop that passes through the Badlands National Park.

Lon and Pam wanted their picture taken at the sign and of course Heidi "the little ham" jumped right in their with them when she saw the camera come out.

The camera cannot capture the beauty of the Badlands.  The sheer starkness of the land with it's contrast of colors to the lush background vegetation is incredible.  We stopped and enjoyed lunch in the parking lot of the visitors center, the advantage of bringing your microwave with you, and continued to tour the park.

The 240 Loop takes you right to Wall, SD.  The home of world famous Wall Drug.

                                             If you want virtually anything, Wall Drug has it:

                                                                  New Friends:

                                                                          A thrill ride:

A taste of the old west:

                                                                Or a new "coach":

                                                                  Wall Drugs has it all!!!

We arrived in Sturgis at the Rush-No-More RV park.  The park is gorgeous, clean and quiet.

After setting up and having our social hour, we headed into Sturgis to find some dinner.  Tip: If your in the area don't bother,  Sturgis is a pit!! We moved on and went to Deadwood for dinner.  No parking available due to Big and Rich concert.  We finally found a sports bar and grabbed some supper before heading back to our sites and turning in for the night.