We rolled
into Ft. Welikit (get it?.... we like it… or
lick it, we weren’t sure) just in time for a late lunch and were greeted
immediately by Rob and Karen Monteperto.
They had reserved a prime spot for us.
After settling in we took off for Crazy Horse. The head is complete except for the flowing
hair and you can begin to see the horse and pointed arm with some
imagination. The big difference from 13
years ago is they have “gone commercial” with the grounds, putting in a
theatre, Indian museum, his original home and studio and lots of shops!! It will still be decades before it is
finished!!
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| We want to compare these to the ones we took in 1996 |
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| The long straight piece will be his hand pointing and you can see where they've drawn the blocking for the horse |
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| The scale model with the mountain in the background |
Back at the
campsite, we grilled chicken and caught up with Rob and Karen around the
campfire. They are “work camping” at
this campground until Labor Day and seem to like it. They are amazed at all the work that is
required to keep a campground up and running.
They work in the office checking in campers for 20 hr/wk in return for a
free site. Their 5th wheel is
huge and Karen gave the tour of the den/living room/office/conservatory/dining
room/kitchen…. A true “great room”!!!
That night
and the next morning we “slept” through rolling thunder and thought our day at
Mt. Rushmore might get rained out, but by 9:30 the sky was blue and we took
off. Our first view of Rushmore was of
just Washington’s head… it was a pleasant surprise on a beautiful road of
needle rocks and rolling Black Hills. Unfortunately, the Black Hills may soon
be renamed the Brown Hills, for they are having a terrible pine beetle
infestation and hundreds of thousands of pine trees have turned brown and
died. They have thinned some and done
limited spraying, but about the only cure is a cold hard winter, which they
have not had in several years. At Mt.
Rushmore we ran into our first “touristy
crowd”. The monument was buzzing with
people. This is truly one of the most
patriotic places in the country I think.
The vastness of the monument, the avenue of state flags, all of the
exhibits are so well done and makes you think maybe we have “gotten it right.” I just hope we don’t screw it up!!
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| Our first view of George |
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| To create the eyes they have large "posts" for the eyeballs.... how did they figure that out? |
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| Look how they created the illusion of eyeglasses on Teddy |
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| The tunnel, truck, me and the Presidents!! |
On the way
back from Mt. Rushmore we drove the Neblock Highway that is filled with whirligig
twisting switchbacks and 3 small tunnels… and I mean small tunnels! They
will not accommodate anything other than a small car or truck. But 2 of them “framed” Mt. Rushmore as you
were coming through them. The highway is
truly “engineering art” as the brochure claimed. Then we rode through Custer State Park and
took the wildlife highway. We saw several
kinds of deer and sheep and then, WOW… a whole herd of buffalo!! They just walked across the road and
definitely backed up traffic!! It was a
lot of fun.
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| White tale deer grazing |
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| And their 4 babies! |
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| A Prong horn Deer - aptly named! |
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| Buffalo ALWAYS have the right-of-way!!! |
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| And there were MANY of them!!! |
I had had
about enough nature, so Dave dropped me off in town and he took the truck on
yet another scenic drive though the needles highway. The town of Custer didn’t offer much, and
after seeing his pictures, I think he made the wiser choice.
Then we
joined Rob and Karen for a true South Dakota steak dinner in the nearby town of
Hilltop at the Aspen Inn. During the day
they serve German fare, but at night the menu has only 2 items: a 6 oz bacon
wrapped filet or you can get it as 8 oz!!
It was delicious and not at all pricey.
We said good
bye to Rob and Karen this morning (Tuesday) and I realized we had now been out
3 weeks. As we traveled toward our goal
of the Missouri River (again) we did the obligatory stop at Wall Drugs. For the uninitiated, it makes South of the
Border look small and upscale!! LOL… though I thought they had toned down their
signs a bit and they aren’t quite as obnoxious as Pedro’s. We had the 5 cent coffee and donuts…(Krispy
Kreme is not in danger!!), bought a game and some post cards and were back on
our way. We drove a small loop through
the Badlands. I just think of the
westward settlers… what must they have thought when this formidable landscape
loomed suddenly before them???
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| The colors just don't show up in the photograph!.. reds, yellows, oranges.... |
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| They now have a whole main street! |
Mt. Rushmore
and Wall Drug gave me a few more license plates. Dave was so sweet! He even buzzed an extra floor of the parking
deck for me! My count is now 46… only 4
to go!
As I write
this I am sitting on the banks of the Missouri River with a cool breeze. It is absolutely idyllic (slap, slap!) except
for the dang flies!!
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| Sorry this is fuzzy... but downloading it has been a monumental task!!!As good as it gets!! |
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