May of 2009

We continued on I 90 leaving Wyoming , the State of No Rest in Rest Areas, and entering Montana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at the 7th Ranch RV Park near Garryowen to spend a few days. It was time to explore the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The people here were very nice. We asked at the park whether or not it would be okay to ride our Segways. They replied, “Ride them anywhere you want.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The park has expanded quite a bit since I was there in the 70′s and again in the 80′s. The interpretive center has an informative movie, there are ranger talks, a self-guided walking tour, and a five mile, self-guided tour as you drive along the ridge line where the battle occurred.

It was very interesting, as history always is. We left Garryowen and continued on towards home.

We passed through rain near Billings, Montana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We passed through snow near Butte, Montana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived home to sunshine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has been a fun trip home.

Wyoming

Devil’s Tower

May of 2009

We left Three Flags RV Park and headed west on I 90. We waved goodbye to South Dakota as we entered Wyoming.

Deadwood and Lead

Woodcarver’s Museum

May of 2009

We left our RV park at Black Hawk early in the morning to visit the historic mining towns of Deadwood and Lead. The route took us through Sturgis, South Dakota where they have the huge motorcycle rally each summer. While having breakfast in McDonald’s there, K.C. texted her friends Trudy and Dan who teach at Dallesport Elementary School. They knew right where the McDonalds is in Sturgis having gone to the Rally several times. After leaving Sturgis, we drove on up to Deadwood. We found the visitor center at the old train depot and decided to go on a narrated trolley tour.

 

Historic Train Depot in Deadwood, SD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Deadwood was a historic mining town. It is now a tourist town with lots of antique shops, nice motels, restaurants and casinos. I believe they have gunfights in the streets during tourist season.

 

Downtown Historic Deadwood, SD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historic Deadwood, SD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 They have a bike trail that is 110 miles long and follows an old railroad bed through the Black Hills from Deadwood to Edgemont. We rode the Segways for a few miles on the trail through Deadwood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Lutheran Church in Lead, SD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historic Lead, SD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 There is an open pit mine, the Homestake Mine, in Lead. Homestake Mine is now closed. However, they are doing research on neutrinos deep in the mine. They have placed neutrino traps 4850 feet down. Neutrinos are similar to electrons with one crucial difference: Neutrinos do not carry electric charge. Because neutrinos are electrically neutral, they are not affected by the electromagnetic forces which act on electrons. Neutrinos are affected only by a “weak” sub-atomic force of much shorter range than electromagnetism. They are very tiny and are able to pass through great distances and through or between molecules in matter without being affected. Research on neutrinos at the Homestake Mine has pretty much saved this old town from becoming a ghost town. Tourists stop at the mine to learn more about the old days of mining and the new days of neutrino research.

 

Homestake Mine in Lead, SD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We left Lead and went looking for the National Woodcarvers Museum. The Woodcarvers Museum turned out to be one man’s collection of items carved from wood with some donations from others wood carvers. On display were panoramas and wood carved furniture. It was interesting and worth a stop if you happen to be in the area.

 

Getting a Shave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surgery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bath Time - the Cowboy Way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barber.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hand Carved Furniture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our stay in South Dakota was really fun. Seeing Wall, the Badlands, Deadwood, Lead, Mt. Rushmore, and Crazy Horse removed several items from our “bucket list.” We’ll be heading on down the road now. Next stop – Devil’s Tower.

 

South Dakota

 

May of 2009

Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial

We left Wall, South Dakota and moved west to the Three Flags RV Park near Black Hawk.  We stayed there for a week while we visited the sights around Rapid City including Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Lead, Deadwood and Sturgis.

I was somewhat disappointed in the visit to Mt. Rushmore.  When I was there in the 70′s and again in the 80′s, the visitor center was in an appropriately rustic building that now houses the maintenance offices.  During the past decade, they have erected a huge, marble, monstrosity of a visitor center.  You get to the viewing platform only after passing through an entryway of glistening, polished marble and walking along a long passageway of flags.  It seems all a bit overwhelming if you simply wish to see the mountain.  As a result of having to pass through the  pretentious, overdone visitor complex, when you finally see Mt. Rushmore it almost seems like an afterthought, in my opinion.  I liked it much better when things were simpler and more rustic.  At the risk of whining too much, I might add that they charge too much to park too!  Here is the first view of Mt. Rushmore seen over the top of the visitor center.

Once you get free of the visitor complex and are on the viewing platform, Mt. Rushmore continues to be an awesome sight to see.

We never made it around to see the backside of the monument, but I understand it looks like this.

Just Kidding!

We left Mt. Rushmore and decided to go on around the mountain to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  Crazy Horse is still a work in progress.  It is 17 miles southwest of Mt. Rushmore on US 16/385 in the heart of the Black Hills.

Here is our first view of Crazy Horse.

At Crazy Horse, you will see the monument itself, the Indian Museum of North America, the Native America Culture Center, the sculpture’s studio, the sculpture’s hand-hewn family cabin, and a large orientation center where many Native American arts and crafts are on display.  Some Native American people where there demonstrating their crafts.   There is also, of course, a gift shop.

In 1947, Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski accepted an inviation by Native Americans to design and sculpt the Crazy Horse Memorial.  He began on the project in 1949.  Ziolkowski was never paid a penny for his work by the Indians, and he has never received any government funding.  The work has been strictly funded through donations.  Recently an anonymous donor gave an enormous sum of money with the condition that work focus now on the horse’s head.  He wants to see that completed while he is alive.  Ziolkowski’s design is an image of Crazy Horse sitting atop his horse with his left hand extended and pointing out over his land.  He is said to be responding to the white man’s question, “Where are your lands now?” by saying, “My lands are where my dead lie buried.”   Ziolkowski wanted the memorial to be a humanitarian project and an educational center for Native American history.  He died in 1982, but his wife and children continue to manage the project in sync with Ziolkowski’s original plans.

K.C. saw Mrs. Ziolkowski while we were there.  She crossed through the museum and disappeared into her office.  On the door to her office was a sign that read, “Nobody gets in to see the wizard; not nobody, not nohow.” 

Ziolkowski’s early years were incredibly difficult.  He lived in a hurriedly built cabin without running water or electricity.  There were no roads into the area so everything had to be packed in.  He climbed up and down the mountain daily, working alone for years until the time came when he could finally afford to hire help. 

At first, Ziolkowski existed only on what he could hunt to eat.  All monies went towards work on the monument.  Eventually after marrying and having many children, they did have to build a larger house.  Their house is now a part of the tour at Crazy Horse and it is amazing to see the workmanship involved in building it.

We took a bus tour so that we could get a closer look at the work in progress.

 

 Thank goodness for zoom lenses!

After our bus tour, we checked out the premises.  Bob enjoyed looking over the old equipment.  K.C. walked Patty and browsed the gift shop.

These are models of what Crazy Horse will look like when it’s finished.

We totally enjoyed our visit to Crazy Horse.  If you’re ever in the area, don’t miss it.  It’s amazing.

 

South Dakota – Wall and the Badlands

May of 2009

We entered South Dakota on State Route 83 and took a break at the border.  Bob checked over the motorhome and took a nap.  K.C. enjoyed some fun and games in the Rosebud Casino.

Rosebud Casino

 

When we left the casino, we had a few more dollars in our pocket thanks to K.C.’s continuing good luck – or is it skill?  We continued north on SR 83 to Murdo, South Dakota.  At Murdo, we turned west on I 90 and drove to Wall, South Dakota.

South Dakota landscape and little house on the prairie.

 

We found an RV Park in Wall.  Wall has an interesting story connected to it.  Back during the depression years, a man and his wife owned a small pharmacy in Wall.  They were struggling.  Business was poor.  On a hot summer’s day, the pharmacist’s wife had an idea.  She sent her husband out to put “free icewater at Wall Drug” signs on the highway.  Before her husband even made it back from setting out the signs, people were pulling off of the highway and stopping in for their free icewater.  While there, they bought other items.  Business became brisk.  The pharmacist expanded on the idea by putting Burma Shave type rhyming signs along the highway for hundreds of miles in each direction.  The tourists poured in.  Fast forward ahead 70+ years, and you will find Wall, South Dakota to be a bustling tourist town famous for the sale of Black Hills Gold jewelry and, of course, its free icewater.  Wall Drug is still the main attraction in town.  K.C. had a good time browsing through the shops in town.  Bob had a good time resting.

The day after we arrived in Wall, we toured the Badlands.  At the Badlands National Park near Wall, erosion has etched the colorful soft rocks and volcanic ash into amazing shapes.  If you’re ever in the area, a drive through the Badlands National Park is a must.  There is a loop that you can take by leaving I 90 at Wall and returning to it at Cactus Flat.  Or vice versa. 

K.C. in the Badlands

 The Badlands are amazing.

After spending a few a few days at Wall, we moved on down the road to Black Hawk just west of Rapid City, South Dakota.  From here, we will tour Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument, and visit Lead, Deadwood and Sturgis.