Day 90 Mount Rushmore - Custer Park - Crazy Horse
Trip Start
May 07, 2008
1
97
205
Trip End
Nov 22, 2008
Hill City,
South Dakota,
United States
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Pick up the hire car and away we go, heading to Mount Rushmore, we are still surrounded by bikes coming at us and surrounding us ahead and behind, we follow the signs to Mount Rushmore, and spot the famous monument up in the mountain, BUT miss the signs to turn into the park, WHOOPS, U - TURN because we will not travel the amount of miles we have a drive straight past!
Well in we head, pleased at the decision to hire a car, the place is beginning to fill with bikes (did we mention the amount of motor bikes we had encountered! Oh yes we have sorry! J ) we find the parking lot and head in, find a nice informative ranger and follow her instructions to the information centre and take some photos, as well as catch the movie about the establishment and work done to create these icons, To understand the magnitude of work and learn the reasons of the selections of the presidents to be set in stone, was well worth the trip, also to read the time and establishment of this great nation from the very beginnings to the arrival at 50 states was also good to gain knowledge for the "foreign travellers"
We came out of the first of the films to walk into the ranger that had first welcomed us at the information centre, she recognised us and asked our thoughts
Just to Prove we made it
. Then asked where we were from. She was excited to find we were from Australia, her and her husband had just booked a cruise down under to take in Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne, to happen in March, she asked us some questions about the time of the year of her trip, what to do in their short time they had in Sydney, we were happy to give the information.We then ducked into the next film about the wild life and eco system of the Mount Rushmore Park.
Take a few more photos, head off to take in the Needle point highway, boy were we pleased to have made the decision about the hire car! No way would the Castle fit through some of the tunnels nor negotiate the tight turns to climb to this wonderful look out, hopefully the photos will do it justice. Oh by the way did we mention the bikes we encountered! EVERYWHERE we stopped there would be at least 200 bikes in the pullovers or car parks, OK they tell us there are around 500,000 bikes, WE BELEIVE them! But do they have to show us them ALL! J
We head down this road and into Custer State Park, this was a drive through some rolling hills and flowing plains country, run into, wild donkeys, a couple of herd of Bison, some antelope and deer. Great viewing but were by this time looking for a spot for lunch, we found, as Earnie called it an Oasis, some trees with picnic benches
Bison have right of way in Custer Park
. Had lunch and looked to where we could head.Crazy Horse was next, except on the way we chose to head to Jewel Cave to explore a cave only 13 miles off our path, gee this was a bit of a disappointment, the tours were only every now and again and the next one was too great a time wait for us to take the time out, mind you the visitors centre didn't encourage us to take the tour.
Back track to head to Crazy Horse, the trip didn't take too much time and again run into a huge crowd (most travelling on Bikes)) into the Crazy Horse park.
This is a park set up in by the Indians to sculpt into the Sacred Black hill South Dakota mountain's a monument to portray their part in being American.
Truly visionary by the Chiefs of the time, some survivors of the Battle of Little Big Horn, and they contracted the sculptor in 1948 to bring this vision to life. (Gee the year Rick was Born)
This is an ongoing project and is in the second generation of the family of the sculptor to continue the vision.
The monument is huge and will dwarf any other man made sculpture previously developed, as an example of size comparison, the four faces of the presidents would fit into neck or shoulders of the Indian Chief Crazy Horse, well done for the inspiration and the continuing work.
We headed back home to our Castle to enjoy a bit of a turn relaxing and a meal of Steak, chips, and tomatoes followed by Ice cream, WHO EVER said life on the road as gypsies was tough?
Plenty of photos we will post as soon as possible, We will let you know when they are done.
