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The Presidents welcome us
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Even though the standard of the motel last night was below what we like, we slept like logs. Not surprising we were exhausted having spent the day traveling the prairies of South Dakota - boring boring! So first thing this morning we decided we needed to secure ourselves some better accommodation. Eventually found a room in our motel of choice - Holiday Inn Express. Couldn't negotiate a good price though which is understandable enough. No negotiation when in absolute high season!
So breakfast at the Scottish restaurant, room secured, we set about doing the tourist thing. We came across - by accident actually - the Berlin Wall memorial. When the wall was torn down, sections of the wall were sent to various places around the world and two of the sections were sent to Rapid City. Combined with stories on displays around the memorial, it made for a very moving and interesting display. Interesting point, did you know that the wall was actually suggested by America?
Then out to Mt Rushmore. Did a self guided audio tour on a walking trail around the base of the memorial. Very interesting and quite something to see more so because of the wonder at what it took to make the memorial rather than gazing on the faces of the Presidents. That being said, getting beneath the faces on the walking trail, one gets to look pretty close-up and one can then appreciate the workmanship. It is actually quite amazing.
Of course, there is also the obligatory tourist traps - gift shops, food and drink! Also though, there was this incredible Sioux band - Brule - playing. The leader of the band, Paul La Roche, looked a spitting image of Alice Cooper - at a glance! The drummer was worthy of a few hundred shots - thank goodness for digital! The music was traditional Indian and it was fantastic. Great story about the leader of the band who at 38 discovered he had been adopted at birth and was not aware of his Indian heritage but when he lost his adoptive parents, he set about tracing his heritage. As a result Brule represents the combination of his white upbringing with the finding of his heritage and the music is traditional Indian with modern whiteman influence. It was great.
Another memorial about 38 miles from Mt Rushmore is the Crazy Horse memorial - another carving in the rock similar to those of the Presidents but representing Crazy Horse. This is a work in progress - it has been going for a little over 50 years - and all they have finished is the face. The sculptor who was commissioned by the Indian tribes to do the work, has of course, subsequently died, but he had 10 kids and 7 of them are continuing with the project under the directorship of the wife. The memorial, when complete, will be the length of a football field and 9 stories tall - virtually dwarfing Mt Rushmore. Initially - and I guess I am still wondering - if this is one of those "ours will be better and far superior", but for whatever reason, it is going to be quite spectacular. There is also an interpretive centre with a lot of information about Crazy Horse and as well, many Indian artifacts. A separate section has Indians peddling their wares - mostly jewellery and quite beautiful stuff it is. Expensive, but beautiful.
Between the two monuments that took up a major portion of our day, but we decided on one more tourist activity - we took ourselves down the alpine slide in a place called Keystone. Chairlift up to the top of a mountain and 2000 feet of track to slide down on these toboggan type thingies. We bought ourselves each a ticket and with great trepidation approached the slide. Came down with the brake on most of the way but had such fun bought ourselves another ticket each, went up again and flew down the second time. Both of us figured we could have gone up and down a number of times! What a couple of kids!
We had intended going back to Mount Rushmore in the evening for a light show - they light up the mountain, show a film and the ranger gives a talk - but really decided we have such a long hike to Denver in the morning, we would rather get back to the hotel and chill. Which is what we have done! And it is good to just relax after such a hectic time!
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