Beautiful Black Hills - South Dakota

We made it!  So strange feeling to see it in real life.

What a beautiful place we have landed.  The Black Hills area of South Dakota is just gorgeous.  Forested rolling hills and grasslands and everything so green. They've been getting a lot of rain like us in Texas.  The campground is nothing to speak of although it's located right near a beautiful lake and park with trails (and of course, the girls love the excellent wifi!).  But we are right in the middle of everything. So our first day here, July 2nd, we decided to go to Mt. Rushmore and beat the crowds that undoubtedly would show up for the special events on the 3rd and 4th.

Patriotic touch to the whole experience.

Jeff and the girls

We are kind of weird in that we try to avoid crowds at all costs. Seems to us it makes for a better experience.  Anyhoo . . . once we got settled in our rv spot, we headed right to Mt. Rushmore. One of the rangers we spoke to said they were getting at least 58,000 visitors a DAY! He said the 3rd and the 4th would be way busier than that - ack! So surreal to actually be there looking up at the monument.  The entrance has pillars on each side with each state flag and the date it became a state. As you look through the pillars, the mountain is sort of framed by it.  You can stand at the top of the amphitheater and look up at the mountain but you can also walk the "President's Trail" and get a view from different angles looking up from below the monument.

July 3rd - Crazy Horse Monument. Not much work being
done at the moment.

They had interpretive information about the electricity needed to keep the jackhammers and other equipment running. They noticed that on Monday's they seemed to have a shortage of electricity and they couldn't figure out why. They looked into it and realized that it was laundry day and the women were all doing laundry and draining away some of the electricity. So they had to come up with a way to get more electricity to the site to keep the jackhammers running smoothly. I thought that was funny!

Survivors of the Battle of Big Horn 1876 - Reunion in 1948

July 3rd we headed over to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is privately run and receives no federal funds but the visitor center and museum are fabulous.
However, I was saddened at what the "white man" did to the Native Americans.  The museum doesn't dwell on that, it's really a celebration of their culture and heritage. But I felt less than patriotic thinking about our history as a people and what we did to "claim" the United States. Visiting both of these monuments at the same time left me feeling extremely conflicted.

Weaving - shows the plants that were used to dye the strands
used to create the pattern - fascinating.

Today during our drive (we are heading back to Arkansas) I downloaded the book "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee".  I bought the book years ago but never read it but it just seemed timely so I'm listening to it as we drive. Once again, wishing I'd paid more attention in history class.  The museum had so many examples of native american clothing, ceremonial headdresses, weapons, peace pipes, pottery, etc.  Almost too much to take in all at once. I could have spent hours there but alas, my traveling companions are not quite as intrigued by it all. Of all the places we've been on this trip, this was my favorite stop.

Artwork - made of all scrap metal soldered together - intricate.

Had lunch in a little town called Hill City and strolled the streets looking at all the tourist stuff.  There were a bunch of sculptures done by one particular artist, all made from scrap metal.  Just beautiful and so fun to look at all the different pieces he used to create the final sculpture.

Poor Wild Bill

Our final destination in and around Rapid City was Deadwood, site of the demise of Wild Bill Hickok.  What a fun town. Most of the buildings are the original building, well, the ones they made out of brick after an early fire destroyed most of the town because the buildings were made from wood.
We didn't go on the bus tour but did wander up and down the main street.  Went into Saloon #10 where Wild Bill was murdered during a poker game.  Apparently, he was holding two black aces and two black eights and now that is called a deadman's hand.

Some of the original buildings in Deadwood

About 5 miles from Deadwood is Sturgis, the place where the Harley Rally is held each year. 2015 is the 75th anniversary.  We have seen more motorcycles in the last three days than we have seen in three years in Texas.  The topography of the area is perfect for motorbike riding.  Twisting, turning, hilly roads.  Interestingly enough, Sturgis doesn't haven't much appeal but Deadwood is a hoot.  Jeff and I both want to come back to this area. We didn't get to Devil's Tower NP in Wyoming just across the border and we didn't stop at Badland's NP on our way out today.

Kinda creepy

 I was afraid we wouldn't fit what with being in the RV and towing the car. Now we have an excuse to return some day. Add it to the bucket list.

We left at 8 a.m. this morning to head back to Arkansas.  Once you leave the Black Hills area it's all grassland again. Jeff fought a crosswind for 320+ miles today and it's stinking hot. Not the usual temperature today. We are settled into an rv park in North Platte, Nebraska for the evening and it's 93 degrees. The forecast for tomorrow is a high of 76 so some kind of cold front is headed this way - Yay!!!!  We are just talking about which way to head home and I told Jeff I'm pretty done with grassland - lol!  I think it will be freeway driving tomorrow.  What I would like to do is come back to this area in late March.  The North Platte area is the flyway for the Sandhill cranes as they make their way north each year. Hundreds of thousands of cranes stop along the North Platte river as they make their way up into Canada, Alaska, and Russia.  I would LOVE to see that.  I wonder if you can drive an rv up here that time of the year.

Calling tomorrow to see if the boat is fixed.  Want to spend some time on the lake when we get back to Arkansas.  Sounds like it's raining there again.  Hopefully, we CAN get back, no flooded roadways.  Ah, always an adventure!