Faces Carved in Stone

  Custer, South Dakota, United States
Friday, August 24, 2007

Slept pretty well last night, even with the fact that our neighbors down the way decided they needed to chop some wood at about midnight.  This morning we decided we were gonna try breakfast at Mount Rushmore.  The camp host was really talking it up when we checked in yesterday.  So after puttering around camp for a bit, we hopped in the car and headed up to the monument. 

Mt Rushmore 1

  After we paid our $8 parking fee, we headed through the entryway, and got our first real good look at Rushmore. Unfortunately, the day was pretty rainy and overcast, so it was a bit shrouded in fog.  But no matter.  We found the cafeteria without trouble, and the breakfast was definitely worth the $5 cost.  Eggs, bacon, biscuts and gravy.  Very good.  After that, we made our way to the museum and gift shop.  The museum was really interesting.  Its amazing how many men worked for so long to carve the faces out of the hills.  And the guy who designed the whole thing!  Holy cow!

After Mount Rushmore, we decided to head for the Crazy Horse Memorial.  Its not finished, but you can still go in.  Unfortunately, on our way there, the car died!  One minute we were cruising along, the next, it wasnt getting any gas and the check engine light came on.  The car was still running though.  So we did what it said, pulled over, popped the hood, 'checked' the engine, and when we started it back up, it worked just fine.  Who knew that all you had to do was look under the hood.  Anyway, we figured we better have it looked at, so we asked the attendant at Crazy Horse who recommended going into the town of Custer.  We passed on the memorial for the time being, and headed straight there.

When we arrived in Custer, we were able to find an auto shop called Lamonts Garage with little trouble, however, the sign on the door said that they were out to lunch.  We figured that was as good a time as any for us to get some food, and found a little bar on the main street.  After we ate, Jerry took the car back to the shop while I walked around downtown Custer. 

The Gold Pan Saloon

  They were in the middle of a festival called Custer Crazy Days, and were having a dunk tank, and a guy walking around dressed as Custer.  Pretty funny actually.  Eventually I made my way into a place called the Gold Pan Saloon, that had a sawdust floor and dollar bills taped to the walls.  Kinda a dive, but I could have seen myself hanging out there quite a lot.  Jerry found me there an hour and a couple beers later and said the car couldnt be fixed til Tuesday!  So we thought it over and decided to risk it and just forget about the problem for the time being.

After leaving Custer, we drove down to Custer State Park and took the scenic loop drive.  It was a really pretty place, with several herds of bison and antelope running around.

Bison in Custer St Park

At one point, a burro actually came up and licked the window of the car!  We spent a couple hours there, then headed back to camp, stopping to pick up some brats to grill over the fire for dinner.  Made it back to camp around 5 pm, then just wandered around the campground, ate dinner, did a little reading and called it a night.