August 26, 2020

Black Hills, Custer State Park, and Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore KOA Hill City, South Dakota

Another magnificent thunderstorm during the night, with spears of bold electricity stabbing the sky.  The strong winds were whipping across the prairie and buffeting the RV.  The image of Devils Tower was backlit by the blinding flashes of light.  Fat raindrops fell for about 20 minutes and then as quickly as it had come, it was gone. 

We took another scenic road today.  We drove today through the cowboy country of Wyoming with plentiful cattle, deer, and antelope.

We slipped back into South Dakota and into the Black Hills National Forest.  The Black Hills are named for the very dark green trees that grow on the slopes. 

We were fortunate to get a glimpse of the Crazy Horse Memorial. We had wanted to go there, but the museums are inside and you have to take a bus to see the carving from the base. In an abundance of caution, we elected to forego stopping there.

This morning when we left the campground at Devils Tower, Tim was talking to another man who suggested that we find the time to see Custer State Park.  He spoke of Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road.  We knew that we wanted to see Mount Rushmore and had planned to go later in the day to avoid the crowds.  We packed our dinner and drove to Custer Park.  What a wonderful surprise this turned out to be.  The Needles Highway was 14 miles of narrow winding road that threads its way through the rock formations.  It is an engineering marvel and the scenery is every bit as spectacular as any national park we have visited. 

Several guys had antique cars, muscle cars and old trucks and were driving here today…what a awesome way to enjoy this ride!

There are also several granite tunnels.  We took the top off of the Jeep so we could really enjoy the view!

The top of the tunnel through the roof of the Jeep.

We found a nice spot under this tree when a rain shower passed.

We didn’t have time to take the wildlife loop…maybe another time.  We saw lots of mule deer and white-tailed deer.  This is the closest we have ever been to a bison bull of this size. 

We found our picnic spot at Center Lake.

We took Iron Mountain Road all the way to Mount Rushmore.  This road has 314 curves, several of them hairpin turns.  It also had granite tunnels and pigtail bridges.  It was a beautiful ride.  The tunnels here are supposed to frame Mount Rushmore as you go through.  Today it was too smoky and the evening sun was at the wrong angle to truly see well…but what a cool thing!

Our first sight of Mount Rushmore National Memorial was impressive.  I stood awestruck.  This is another place where pictures cannot capture the reverence and enormity of the sculpture.

The sculptor. Gutzon Borglum, chose these four presidents for their contributions to the nation.  He chose Washington as the founding father, Jefferson for his vision of growth, Lincoln for his ideas of equality, and Roosevelt for his international work, his commitment to rights for citizens and conservation.

A very beautifully crafted stone fireplace in the exhibit.

We stayed for the illumination ceremony and I am truly glad that we did.  We watched as a school teacher talked about the anniversary of women’s right to vote.  We watched as the veterans and active military were honored.  We watched as they retired the flag for the evening.  We watched the sculpture light up.  We sang the national anthem.  It was a very moving experience.  These are crazy difficult times for our country.  This was a reminder that we are very fortunate to live in the United States, to have opportunity and freedoms that most people around the world will never have.  Tim left with moist eyes and goosebumps and I left with a full heart.