RAPID CITY, MOUNT RUSHMORE, DEVIL'S TOWER, THE
BADLANDS, AND CRAZY HORSE!
August 11-18, 2017
This next week was
going to be an active week with so much to see and the motorcycle rally was
about over. As we worked our way towards
Rapid City, S.D. we headed into some weather. The big, black cloud slowly moved over us
and there were several lightening strikes.
Many of the Sturgis riders quickly got off the freeway either choosing
to wait out the storm or change into warm leathers. An underpass shielded several motorcyclists
from the hail and lightening. Perry and
I still haven't encountered enough of these thunderstorms (especially pulling a
fifth wheel) to drive with confidence.
We pulled into
Ellsworth AFB where we would stay for the next week, delighting in our daily
doses of "The National Anthem", reveille, taps and an occasional
announcement of lightening strikes within 5 miles, heeding us to take cover.
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| Sturgis riders taking shelter |
BEAR COUNTRY
This area is mostly
rolling hills and prairies, not far from the entrance to the beautiful Black
Hills mountain range, the home of Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse and …….Bear
Country!
Winding roads and a
gradual incline brought us to Bear Country, a place where wild animals roam
that you can view from your car.
Beautiful Elk with their large
antlers passed in front of us unaware we were there. We saw mountain goats, lions and then there
were the bears! If I am meant to
encounter a bear, this is how I like to see them….in an "escape"
vehicle. There were several dozens of
black bears walking everywhere and one came within inches of the truck. Daisy and Gracie started to bark and I
quickly quieted them down being sure not to draw the bear's attention. This tour was amazing to be so close to many
wild animals. Done with our tour, we
drove the beautiful back roads admiring the majestic tall trees. There are plenty of wild buffalo that we
wanted to see in Custer State Park,
spotting a few. Stopping at a small
hiking spot, we got a glimpse of the amazing Mount Rushmore saving that tour
for another day.
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| Elk in the Bear Country Park |
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| A little close..... |
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| Cowboy country |
DEVIL'S TOWER
Not far from Rapid
City is the beautiful countryside of
Wyoming and Devil's Tower. It would take
us an hour plus to get to Devil's Tower, waiting out a crazy storm in a small (I
mean small) town of Aladdin (pop.15).
The General Store turned out to be a great stopping place for us, the
dogs, and dozens of Sturgis riders. The
General Store was busy with motorcyclists finding shelter in this old building,
built in the 1800's. Upstairs were rooms
with consignment merchandise mostly antiques.
We came across old record albums and I chose early Beatles and Glen
Campbell records for a couple dollars!
The woman at the register answered my question, with a "yes"- there really are 15 people
in Aladdin!
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| Are they sure? 15! |
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| Sturgis riders taking shelter |
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| A stop towards Devil's Tower |
The rain subsided
after completing my purchase and we continued on to Devil's Tower. We passed signs for Cody, Wyoming making me
reminisce about the time our daughter, Kaylyn interned on a ranch not far from
Cody. She herded cattle on horseback and
many times below freezing temperatures.
I always admired her love of country and horses…..this is her kind of
place!
We climbed several
hundred feet up mountains roads and……..there it was!! The most spectacular
nature carved piece of art I have ever seen!
Back in the 70's a movie was filmed here about aliens, "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind". I
could understand why they chose this place to film about aliens. There was something ominous, yet intriguing!
Learning about this
amazing tower of rocks in the Black Hills, about 50 million years ago it rose
up as a result of molten magma that turned into sedimentary rock. The Kiowa Indians legend is of a group of
siblings (one boy and seven girls) playing when suddenly the boy began
transforming into a bear chasing the
sisters when a tree spoke to them, telling them to climb on it. The base of the tree has claw marks from the
bear chasing after the sisters!
Devil's Tower is 867
feet and taking turns to the base (we switched off since we had the dogs), we
saw climbers on the Tower….for the real thrill seekers! Over 5,000 people climb it each year, some
don't always make it!
We found a quiet
spot to admire this amazing sight, pulling the tailgate down to enjoy a picnic
lunch. I am in awe of Wyoming country
and now understand why Kaylyn loved it here!
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| And....there it was! |
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| One of the most amazing National Parks |
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| Our picnic spot to view Devil's Tower |
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| The Indian's claim of bear claw marks |
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| Little Daisy on The Prairie! |
A LIMO RIDE,
BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK, MINUTEMAN NATIONAL MISSILE SITE and WALL DRUG
Perry does 90% of
town driving and 100% of fifth-wheel driving and he finally decided he needed a
long overdue break! We chose a tour
service to see The Badlands and it was just the two of us in a limo with a fun
driver, Russ! The tour included
waters/sodas, lunch in the tourist spot of Wall Drug, and of course, The
Badlands.
We found a place
outside Rapid City to board the dogs and here, Russ would pick us up. The
boarding facility wasn't too keen on the idea of us leaving our truck there
(they had acres of property), so we
parked outside a gas station off the freeway. The drive was a good hour to the
Badlands and as we got closer, the topography changed dramatically. There were herds of wild buffalo along the
way and as Russ drove us into the beautiful canyons and mountains of the
Badlands, he drove down a side road coming across dozens of Big Horn sheep that
came right up to the car. Not feeling
threatened by these cute animals, I got out to take pictures and surprisingly
they struck a pose…..what a treat! Russ
has been giving tours of the Badlands for years and said he had never seen them
so close. I could see why this was proclaimed
a National Park in the early 1900's.
Miles of stunning rock formations, hiking trails and wild animals once
again put me in awe of our beautiful country.
We were told it was called the Badlands because in the 1800's, the
Indians were relocated to this area where they were taught to farm but nothing
would grow because of the hard dirt and clay.
The Indians died of diseases and starvation forcing those left behind to
move elsewhere, thus named "Badlands".
Russ kept us
entertained for hours driving us to the
Minuteman National Missile site Visitor's Center where we learned about the
hundreds of U.S. nuclear warheads distributed in the area…..scary but
interesting! I wondered if we were
standing on the more dangerous or the safest part of the U.S.?! Whew!
after this, we were ready to drive to Wall Drug for lunch.
Wall Drug became
known over the years after a pharmacist and his wife settled in the area
establishing a pharmacy. The business
struggled and his wife would watch cars pass them on the highway. One hot day she had the idea to give out free
water to road travelers and soon the word got out that there was free
water. Signs went up in different
locations and soon the business grew. We
enjoyed the cute western town (definitely a tourist spot) and enjoyed our lunch
with Russ. Our day long memorable tour
was about over and I was so happy my husband got the much deserved driving
break!
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| Some of the amazing formations of the Badlands |
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| Buffalo |
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| The Big Horn Sheep came to check us out |
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| "I like Ewe"! |
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| Badlands Backdrop |
MOUNT RUSHMORE AND CRAZY HORSE
There was a chance
of rain the day we made the trip to Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, but our
trip to Rapid City, South Dakota was coming to an end and these were a must
see!
The four presidents,
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln
were sculpted by Gutzon Borglum beginning in 1927. He was chosen because of his work on Stone
Mountain in Georgia and his ability to carve in granite.
The rain, thunder
and lightning did come as expected once we arrived at the park but it was
intermittent allowing us to stand in total awe of the carvings of the four
presidents. The detail of the faces had
me wonder how Borglum and his team could stay elevated for hours at this height
(undoubtedly there'd be winds) in the Black Hills to carve. The heads are proportioned to a man 465 feet
tall and the mouths are 18 feet wide with noses 20 feet long. So thrilled to have experienced Mount
Rushmore, now off to Crazy Horse.
Crazy Horse was
actually named Tasunka Witco and born in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He later earned his father's name after
fighting in many battles including The Battle of Little Big Horn. The Indians wanted the white man to know they
also had heroes and proposed a carving be done not far from Mount
Rushmore. The face is 87' 6" tall
and when the carving is complete, it will be 563 feet high. Currently, Crazy Horse's hand, finger and the
horses mane are being worked on.
We toured the
visitors center but couldn't get close to the carving. We learned a little about the Lakota Indian
tribes and was entertained by a tribal dance.
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| Entrance to Mount Rushmore |
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| In awe of the sculptor's talent |
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| A different perspective |
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| Years in the making. Crazy Horse's face is near completion |
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| The outline of the project |
Our stay in South
Dakota was fun, exciting and educational.
We hope to someday come back to explore more of this beautiful state.
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