Another one of those weeks that flies by.
Wednesday, Oct. 1, Just before we pulled out from Spearfish City Campground we saw the lady we'd met the day before on a walk that had a dog that looked just like Luci, she and her husband live in Spearfish and were out for a morning walk. Remmy is a dead ringer for Luci, she is a Lab/Weimaraner mix, Luci, who knows, she's just our LBD (little black dog) or as Gordy said, half lab half wild hair. We'd decided to take the 22 mile scenic drive through Spearfish Canyon, an area known for their fall colors and beautiful scenery. I think we were a little early, we saw a lot of green trees and not a lot of yellow and red. There are 3 waterfalls on the highway with nice pull-outs even for big rigs.
Luci and Remmy
This is not Luci
Spearfish City Campground memorial
Spearfish Canyon
Thursday, Oct. 2, We came here to cross another place off our bucket list, Mt. Rushmore (Rout Mushmore, old family joke) so it was first on our agenda. We stopped in the historic town of Keystone, it was recommended to us to visit The Borglum Rushmore Museum to truly appreciate the scope of the project. There was an actual size replica of George Washington's eye, showing how Borglum used a rectangular protrusion in the pupil to form a shadow to give the eyes character. It took 400 workers and 14 years to complete with no fatalities. He chose the four presidents specifically, Washington was for the birth of the country, Jefferson for the expansion (Louisiana Purchase), Roosevelt for development ( Panama Canal) and Lincoln for preservation, saving the union in the Civil War. The museum really is a must see. Keystone started as a mining town, Bill Franklin was out for a walk with his young daughter, she picked up a pretty rock, turned out to be gold. Old Bill walked 20 miles into Rapid City to file a claim, turned out he celebrated a couple of days, when he got back home his wife Jenny was really mad! He should have called. To sooth his wife's feathers he told her he'd name the mine after her and that is how The Holy Terror Mine got it's name. On to Rushmore! As we drove up the mountain we'd catch a glimpse of the faces through the trees, each view was different from the next. The admission was free, however it did cost $11.00 to park. We had Luci with us, it was a cool day, mostly cloudy so she was fine in the car. As you come in you walk through the Avenue of the states, all the flags of the US and the year that the state was admitted to the union etched on granite posts. You looked over the amphitheater to the faces on the mountain, if you think about the years it was made without modern technologies and equipment is truly amazing. As we stood there we saw two mountain goats came out of the woods behind the amphitheater. There were trails we could have taken but hated to leave Luci in the car. We left for the Crazy Horse Memorial we drove down the mountains through a couple of switchbacks and saw Washington's profile, originally Jefferson was supposed to be to his left but changes were made due to soft rock so they blasted the carving off and moved him to the right. We stopped there to eat our picnic, we found a sun spot so it wasn't too cold. About 30 miles down the road is the Crazy Horse Memorial, unlike Rushmore no state or federal money is being used to complete it, all the funds are being raised by admission and donations. Sculptor Korzack Ziolekorski, a self taught sculptor, architect and engineer started the project in 1948 at the age of 40, all he had to his name was $174.00. He and his wife Ruth had 10 kids, 6 of which still work on the mountain carrying on his legacy. It is the largest sculpture in the world, 563 feet, which dwarf's the presidents 60 feet. It was a big day, we came home for dinner and then watched the Duck's lose.
Friday, Oct. 3., The weather has been windy and cool, we had heavy rain and wind one night which reminded me of the storms we had in my home at the Oregon Coast, we woke up to sunshine and blue skies Friday morning. We headed into Rapid City, population of about 10,000. We found a doggie day camp, Luci was really needing to play after being cooped up in the car for several days. Rapid City seems like a nice little town, one of the things I found interesting, there were two large grain silos near main street. A downtown project started in 1999 to rejuvenate the area, now it is quite a funky little town with lots of cute shops, art galleries and restaurants. Statues of the 42 past presidents are located on the corners of the downtown core. We had lunch at the Firehouse Brewery, food was good and Gary said the beer was delish! My water was exceptional. We wanted to go see the Chapel in the Hills, a replica of Stave Church in Norway, it was closed(for the season). Many of the streets are town up, they are burying the utility cables, after last year's blizzard when most of the area lost power. Seems like they are closing the barn door after the horses got out. We've talked to some locals who say the snow was over the top of their front door.
Saturday, Oct. 4th, We packed a picnic lunch and headed for Custer State Park, we took the 18 mile wildlife loop, we saw more buffalo there than in Yellowstone last year, donkeys, antelope and coyote. The last weekend of September every year they have a buffalo round up where volunteers and park workers check out the health of the buffalo, brand and sell some for breeding and slaughter but most of them are returned to roam the plains for another year. The Needles part of the park take you back into the Black Hills with gorgeous rock formations, the tallest peak was over 7200 feet elevation.
Sunday, Oct. 5th, I just hung around the coach doing laundry and other mundane things while Gary went to the Air Museum at Ellsworth AFB just a few miles west of RC. It was windy and cold, the last thing I wanted to do was wander around outside, Gary said it was worthwhile. I got to watch a couple of football games in the time he was gone.
Monday, Oct. 6th, I'd always heard about Wall Drug in South Dakota, another dream fulfilled! In 1931 Ted Hustead and his wife Dorothy bought Wall Drug in the middle of nowhere during the great depression. Business was slow in spite of all the traffic heading east and west. Dorothy came up with an idea to bring people in, she put clever signs up, similar to Burma Shave, offering free ice water. The first day they were inundated with people not only getting free ice water but also buying ice cream and other items. Since that day the little drug store has grown to include shops, restaurants, galleries and museums. They give free coffee and doughnuts to veterans so Gary partook. We were on our way to the Badlands National Park close by. We'd dropped Luci off at day camp so we would be able to do some hiking, in National Parks dogs are not allowed on trails. The weather was windy again and the rattlesnake warning signs kept me off the trails except for board walks. There are over 240,000 acres of spectacular rock formations millions of years old, prairie lands where people tried to homestead but gave up due to draught and winds. Of course lots of wildlife, when we first got to the park we were at an overlook and saw about 10 mountains goats just yards from us. Archeologists are still finding artifacts due to the continuing erosion due to wind and rain, there are signs for park guests, saying if they see any fossils to turn in the location to park rangers. We stopped at Ellsworth AFB to pick up a few groceries on the way back only to discover the commissary is closed on Mondays. Bummer. We scurried to pick up Luci before day care closed and came back to watch our Seahawks beat the Redskins. Whew that was nerve racking.
Tuesday, Oct. 6th, we leave tomorrow, heading for Minden Nebraska to the Pioneer Village Museum that Gary's sis and husband told us about. The weather is supposed to be improving, maybe no wind for our drive.
Well, TTFN,
Gary and Pam
Sorry about my technical skills, somehow the pictures get all mixed up.
Luci and Remmy, which one is Luci?
Luci and Remmy oops a duplicate, Luci on right
No comments:
Post a Comment