Day Five - Mt Rushmore

Trip Start Jul 18, 2008

Trip End Jul 29, 2008

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Flag of United States Keystone, South Dakota, United States
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

It is a race against the setting sun. I would love to be at the campsite before dark (more plans that didn't happen) but we hit a wall or rather a mountain and the getting gets slow! We want to at least see Mt Rushmore before we head to the campsite but you cannot really hurry much on downhill hairpin turns now can you??? We finally come around a bend and there they are...just beautiful in the fading sunlight. We stay a minute or so and then set off to find the campsite...ha ha ha.

It is getting dark, we are on a dark treacherous mountain and we are unfamiliar with the area. In the fading light I can see how beautiful the area is...I'm navigating...so at a turn out I tell James to stop so he can see as well. Well it turns out we are on the mountain across from Mt Rushmore and we can see them pretty well. There are some others there as well and they are waiting for the lighting ceremony. So off plan again we decide to wait with them since we were going to have to choose between this lighting ceremony and Crazy Horse - this way we could kinda see both. It was not as good as being in the park I'm sure but it was still cool and the weather was amazing...about 70 degrees on top of a mountain! So now I am sure you can guess...it is now pitch black dark and we are a couple of mountains away from a bed!

James is a hero and is getting us through when we finally enter Custer State Park. I want to see a buffalo but the terrain is mountainous and it is dark so I resign myself to tomorrow when lo and behold a whole herd is on the road!!! All I can say is WOW...not part of the plan! They were huge and scary and we were so close you could reach out and touch them. I tried to get a picture but it was too dark.

At least an hour later we find our cabin...what a day..