June 19

Mt. Rushmore and Deadwood were our destinations today. The road up to Mt. Rushmore is gorgeous. The “pig tails” on the highway really do spiral up. When Norbeck laid out the road, the first engineering company said it couldn’t be done but the second one made it happen. He wanted the road to go through the most beautiful parts of the park with the least disturbance to nature. There are three more of the narrow square tunnels, the last one perfectly framing Mt. Rushmore as you go through. What can I say about Mt. Rushmore. It is one of those places we have all seen in school books and on TV. It is an American icon. The hope of the park service is that visitor will “enjoy its beauty and reflect on the symbolism of the four Presidents, the magnificent feat of engineering required to carve a mountain and the artistic accomplishment evident in the four faces.“ We certainly did all of the above! The walk through the Avenue of Flags to the Grand View Terrace is one photo moment after another. Chris and I took the Presidential Trail to get the closest view we could and then walked down to Sculptor’s Studio. We passed by two mountain goats for an extra treat.

It all started back in 1923, when Doane Robinson, state historian, suggested carving statues in South Dakotas‘s Black Hills. The first thoughts were to carve western heroes on the faces of the pinnacles. Gutzon Borglum was fed up with the Stone Mountain project when he was approached to come to South Dakota but he forcefully informed the originators of the project that he would not waste his time sculpting regional figures. His idea for the sculpture was to commemorate the foundation, preservation, and continual expansion of the United States. He chose Washington as the father of our country. Jefferson was chosen for his work on forming our nation and further expansion with the Louisiana Purchase. Roosevelt was honored for the Panama Canal and increased trade, expanding the National Parks, and as the trust buster. Lincoln had to be included for holding the nation together during the Civil War. He was a fiery and stubborn artist but known to be the best. He spent the last fourteen years of his life working on this project. Work began in 1927, and was completed as we see it today, seven months after Borglum’s death in 1941 by his son Lincoln Borglum. 400 workers sculpted the colossal faces working through the depression.

The museum and film did a fabulous job of taking us through the process. We saw the model that was made to the scale of 1 inch to 12 inches and many of the tools and heavy pieces of equipment on display. Photos showed the scaffolding and men dangling along the face doing the more detailed work. Local miners who were used to working with dynamite were hired. We met one of the men who worked on the project in the Gift Shop. He was doing a book signing. He had been working at a mine nearby and was a great baseball player. Borglum loved baseball! The combination got him hired.

The entire facility enhances the magnificent sculpture. However, they did not bring up what a difficult and egotistical, and stuborn man Borglum was. Another major piece of information that was missing was the fact that the Black Hills with its granite rock walls and spires was a very spiritual place for the Native Americans living in the area. Crazy Horse begins to make up for that.

We hurried up to Deadwood in time to catch the bus tour of the city and cemetery. It’s kind of a ditsy little tour but that is part of what made it fun. “In 1876 fortune seekers looking for gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota stumbled upon a gulch full of dead trees and a creek full of gold - and the Wild West town of Deadwood was born.” The tiny town boomed with outlaws, gamblers, gunslingers and of course ladies of the night. It was said that you could smell it from 10 miles away and you were often up to your knees in mud. Reality sounds pretty unromantic. I often romanticize history. The town of course burned to the ground as they all did but was rebuilt and now the entire town is a registered National Historic Landmark. Some years ago they opened it up to gambling with a percentage of the profits going to restoration. It must be working. The town has a fresh coat of paint and looks inviting. Everything is Wild Bill Hickok this and Wild Bill Hickok that. He was only in town a short time but this is where he met his demise. He was shot in the back by Seth Bullock in the #10 Saloon. They have a reenactment every day. Boot Hill was moved to higher ground. Our tour bus took us up to the grave sites of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill. Stories abound about those two but apparently there was not much of a relationship. Calamity Jane’s life story is a tragic one. We could see the Homestake Goldmine area that closed in 2002 after 130 years. Today it is the location for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Lab. Norm, John and Chris had fun playing a little Black Jack at a video table with beautiful buxom women dealers. With $1.00 bets they could play a while. Faye and I walked along the streets checking out some of the old hotels and Saloons, and played some slots. We watched a “gun fight” at the other end of town. We tried out the Chinese Restaurant in honor of Chinatown and headed back to Custer State Park. We said our good bys to Faye and John. They were leaving for Denver the next morning. What a nice visit we had!

June 20, 21, 22

We had a day to clean the Manor and pack it up for our return HOME. We did one last drive through the Wildlife Loop. This time we drove throught the Blue Bell area. this was originally a retreat lodge for the Bell Telephone Co. Now the lodge is still there but out the road a mile or two there is a horse camp. You can actually bring your horse camping with you! There are corrals for your horse and a camp site you.

We are going to stay in hotels the two nights of our journey back to reality. With long days of driving we wanted to make it as easy a transition as possible! Our last night will be in Ellensburg. My dear friend Anna, who knows Ellensburg, recommended the Valley Café for dinner. It will be my treat. I could not treat Chris and Norm enough for the wonderful experience I have had in these last five months. It has been a trip of a lifetime! Thanks seems like such a small word for such an amazing time.

We just got back from a delicious dinner at the Valley Café. We talked about all the amazing times we had; interesting, informative, educational, and just plain fun. How we never wanted to give into a day of relaxation and personal time because there was always some wonderful thing to experience. Also how it had its difficult times with three people traveling together for five months for heavens sake. How we might do it differently if we had it do all over again. Adding a third wheel is not always easy. All in all it was fabulous! Thank you Chris and Norm! Home tomorrow! Back to the real world of family, friends, gardening, home projects, working out, dieting, and personal time! I will surely never forget these past five months and will be working on my photo books into the winter.

June 18 - Jeep Ride and Burgers

June 18

Norm, Chris, John and I took a jeep ride this morning. We were told we had Christy, the “best” guide of the group, for our trip. She was a darling blond blue eyed woman who had spent her life visiting the park and raising bison and elk along with two kids in Iowa. Now she was living her dream living right here! She knows all there is to know about bison and the wildlife here. She was worried we would be disappointed the bison had moved north along the paved road. When we told her that was no problem we had seen many sightings she was delighted and we headed for the backroads in the grasslands. She talked and talked both about the park and her experiences with the animals. We loved every minute. One special moment was seeing coyotes racing along a hill in the distance. We have coyotes at home but seeing them racing across the grass was really special. They are really elusive in the park. She had only seen one prior to this. We heard a little history of the early ranchers that came in here about the turn of the century. She delighted us with stories of close encounters with the bison. We passed a truck with elk researchers coming down from the mountain. The elk herd is the only animal having difficulty keeping their numbers up. The mountain lions a getting the babies. Their numbers are doing just fine. We bounced and bounced all over the grasslands and ended up high on a hill with a magnificent view looking out in all directions! She really wants to get hired on by the state with a permanent job. I hope she can end up working with the elk research group.

Looking for elk on our jeep ride - didn't find any but the view was beautiful!

Our fabulous guide on our jeep tour.

We have seen many pronghorn.

John enjoying the view.

We all had lunch, some took naps and some played cards, very relaxing afternoon. We had Faye and John over for hamburgers and s’mores over the campfire. We had fun entertaining at the Manor! Our “bug room” worked out great. We dined and played cards without running interference with the fly swatter. Thanks to Faye and John, our own See’s candy boxes made a great dessert.

Dinner party at the Manor

Burgers - Yum!
(John love to give the camera a silly look)

Cards after dinner in the "bug room."

Roasted or should I say burned marshmellows!

June 16 and 17 - Custer and Crazy Horse

June 16

Norm is feeling better but still running a temperature. Faye, John, Chris and I drove down the Wildlife loop road to see the herd of bison, pronghorn, and prairie dogs. The only bison we saw were a few big males right by the campground area. We did see the herd of burros down there in the parking area. They are definitely after snacks from everyone! We brought the last of our carrots along just in case. One had his whole head in the window before Chris could get out of the car. They were keeping everyone entertained. We stopped at the Wildlife Station to ask about the whereabouts of the bison. I guess they don’t like the diesel jeeps and trucks that the Army Reserves are running back and forth. They have a small camp here right in the middle of the grasslands. Who could figure! The other night we saw them in a caravan with soldiers sticking up in a opening in the roof with their helmets and night lights dangling holding a big rifle pointing out into the hinter lands. Didn’t quite seem to fit in the picture of serenity of the grasslands at dusk. The bison had moved north to be out of their way. We changed out plans and drove up Iron Mountain Road and found hundreds of them up there. Faye and John had a great view. We drove into Custer for gas seeing a few males by themselves. They won’t be allowed into the herd again until later this summer when the males will be gathering their harem. We stopped at the Legion Lake Lodge for lunch, fabulous homemade pie.

Wild Burros in the face!

Faye with her new pets.

We had made reservations months ago for play tickets for the “Run for Your Life” at the Black Hills Playhouse and Norm had to miss it. He has been looking forward to coming back here for 20 years! We got there early and played cards outside on the deck. Our expectations were met with the hilarious play. We had front row seats and laughed ourselves silly. The main character is a taxi driver that has been enjoying two wives in two flats in London and managing it all with a very careful schedule. A monkey wrench has been thrown into this nice life and he and the innocent guy who lives upstairs are caught up in one lie after another. It has a great twist at the end, very funny. All seven actors were great. The theater has been going since 1982, and obviously is still going strong.

July 17
We drove over to see Crazy Horse today. Norm is still suffering but probably from an infected bite so he joined us. What a wonderful surprise. When Chris and Norm were here in ‘93, not much of Crazy Horses face had been completed and there was nothing to see but the site. They drove up, looked and went on. Now it is a days outing. The extensive buildings hold a Native American museum with over 14,000 pieces, a restaurant, his studio and original cabin, gift shop, and cultural center with an extensive library and Curtis photograph collection in the basement. The face of Crazy Horse is before you as you drive up. It is the world’s largest mountain carving now is progress. The sculptor, Korczak Ziolowski, had won first prize at the 1939 World’s Fair with his sculpture of Paderewski. Chief Standing Bear and his Lakota council had heard this and invited him to South Dakota to do a carving in granite. Ziolowski arrived in 1947 to take on the project. The Lakota chose the symbolic representation of famed Battle of Little Bighorn leader Crazy Horse to honor all North American Indian people and proclaim, “The red man has great heroes also.” The first blast was in 1948, and it has been a continuing project ever since. He lived here with his wife and their ten children in a log cabin as he tackled the gigantic sculpture. When he died in 1982, his wife and children kept the project going. Today seven of his children and his wife are working right here. Three of his sons are part of the 10 man sculptor team and the others are working in the running of the facility. The size is unfathomable. All of Mt. Rushmore would fit in the head of Crazy Horse! It alone is 9 stories high. The horse will be 22 stories high! The painted outline shows the 45 foot ear and the 16 foot wide eye. The paint lines themselves are four feet wide. The iron in the granite allows them to seal the surface with blow torches so the magnificent sculpture will not have trouble with erosion like Mt. Rushmore. We took a bus ride down to the bottom of the mountain for a closer view. The guide filled us in on some details about the project and the family. For years, Ziolowski worked alone. He bought an old generator that he had to crank to get going and then climb over 700 stairs to get to the blasting area. Sometimes he would have to go up and down the stairs many times just to recrank old Buba when it would go “kaput” again and again. With all the hardships, he was living his dream. Thank goodness his wife had the same dream! Some of his grandchildren are coming into the business today. They work on it year round with temperatures below zero. Within the next ten years we should see the arm and hand pointing to “My lands are where my dead lie buried.” along with the outline of the head.

Cards and dinner back at the Lodge.

Eye of the Needle on the Needles Highway on our way up to Crazy Horse

Enjoying the view with Faye and John

Crazy Horse

Faye and John with us enjoying the day at Crazy Horse

We took a jeep ride to get a little closer to the sculpture.
All of Mt. Rushmore would fit in the head and hair of Crazy Horse!

This original sculpture is on a scale of 34 feet to one foot.

June 14 and 15 Custer and Black Hills

June 14

We went into Custer again this morning, more supplies and a hair cut for Norm. Then we headed north to the Needles Highway. It is really spectacular as you climb to over 5,000 feet and are in the middle of needle-like granite formations on all sides. Thank goodness they have pullouts to do some picture taking. The driver, poor Norm with over 20,000 miles under his belt, needs a chance to really gaze at the scenery. There are some really narrow and low tunnels going through the granite. We could reach out and touch the sides as we drove through. We stopped for a picnic at Sylvan Lake. It is a jewel with sparkling water framed in rugged granite boulders. Norm got his nap while Chris and I rented kayaks for an hour on this pretty lake. Fish were jumping, people were having fun climbing over the rocks and a few were in the water. It was lovely!

We continued our drive and stopped at the Black Hills Playhouse. It’s a classic summer stock theater that puts on four plays a summer. We have tickets for “Run for Your Life” on Friday evening. When Chris and Norm were here in ‘93, they were using CCC stone and log buildings for costumes and set making, etc. Too bad for us that those have been replaced. Some of the quaintness has been lost. We talked to a young man from East LA, Norm’s old stomping grounds, who has been coming back for 10 years. He is the grounds keeper, and will be doing the lighting or electrical for our show and in “The Three Musketeers” late in the summer.

Norm and Chris wanted to check out Center Lake Campground where they had stayed with Mom. It’s lovely sitting in the pines with the sites sitting up against the rocks. When they were here the entire campground was filled with bikers from the Sturgis Bike Rally! It was one hopping place. Today it was very quiet and serine. We were hoping to spot some mountain sheep as we looped north but were delighted to see a burro along the road. They were let loose long ago when they were not used as pack animals any longer. They love the tourists and come right up to your car for a treat.

June 15

Chris and I had a lazy morning waiting for Faye and John’s arrival but Norm had spent the night awake with a fever and aches. Chris and I went over to the Game Lodge just up the road to meet and greet Faye and John. We found a little corner alcove with a game table just for us. The sky was getting pretty dark and rain was in the forecast. So, we sat around and got caught up with their train trip and B&B experiences while we played a new card game called Garbage. They had learned it from four little old ladies from Iowa on the train. What a nice way to spend an afternoon. Poor Norm stayed back at the Manor nursing his fever and achy body. The lodge is a charming building built in the 30‘s. The lobby and bar area have tables for cards etc with a lovely patio area outside. It has been added to over the years but Faye and John got a quaint room in the lodge itself. We dealt hand after hand talking and laughing the whole afternoon until it was time to go into the dining room with white linen table clothes and waiters in crisp white shirts with little bison on their ties, lovely. What a delicious gourmet meal. How fun to have good friends with us! I wish more people could have met up with us to share in some of our travels.

Custer State Park - South Dakota

June 13
“There is nothing ordinary about Custer State Park. As you enter this magnificent reserve, it takes only minutes for the enchantment to begin beguiling your senses.” It is certainly magnificent with its rolling green grasslands spotted with ponderosa pines in the southern area and rugged granite boulders and spires with pine and spruce forests further north. Taking center stage is one of the most powerful icons of the American West - the six foot tall bison weighing up to 2,000 pounds. A free roaming herd of about 1,300 call Custer home. We drove along the Wildlife Loop Road taking a couple of well marked gravel roads through this beautiful grassland. We saw a small herd of bison along the highway but were thrilled to see more than a couple of hundred off a gravel road. They were busy grazing with their babies sticking close by. Babies were everywhere running, nursing, and playing as the whole herd moved along. A couple of the big gals rolled in the dirt having a grand old time. As we continued our ride, we realized the entire group was moving down the valley to a little pond for a drink. Some were in the water up to their bellies and others were standing by the shore getting a drink. When they were done, they strolled across the road right in front of us and gathered on a grassy hill to continue munching. What a sight!!! Needless to say we were thrilled to see them roaming the grasslands as they have done for thousands of years. Before the 1890’s, millions and millions of bison roamed the grasslands but by the turn of the century there were less than 1,000 on the entire continent. Thanks to people like Peter Norbeck, Father to Custer State Park, action was taken to preserve this native beast right here. In 1914, 36 bison were purchased to start a herd here and by the 1940’s the herd numbered over 2,500. They have found that this area can safely handle about 1,300 healthy bison today.

We also saw pronghorns that were usually by themselves. We went into the small Wildlife Visitor Center and found out that the pronghorn are usually by themselves right now. The mothers are having their babies and the guys are leaving them alone. The Visitor Center has a magnetic board with a map of the wildlife area with all the gravel roads marked. They have a couple of magnetic buffalo that can be moved to show where you might have a good chance of seeing them. Pretty cool.

We drove into Custer to get a few supplies. Faye and John will be here by June 15^th and we want to have a bar-b-q at the Manor. It’s a nice little town right outside the park.

After dinner, yes we actually cooked, we drove the Wildlife Loop Road again hoping to see some different birds and wildlife. We had some good sightings of white-tailed deer with their long tails flipped up as they ran. We also saw the mule deer bounce along on all fours and more pronghorn. This is the time to see babies! We had some luck with some different bird sightings also. The bison were right back up in the area where we had first seen them. This time many of the babies were lying down and the herd was calmer. We turned around and headed home after watching a glowing sunset.

June 12 - On Our Way The Custer State Park

June 12
We drove by the famed Wall Drug along Hwy 90 on the way to Custer State Park. Chris, Norm and Mom were here in ‘93 during the Sturgis Bike Rally in August. 150,000 bikes and bikers gave it a whole different look than the calm place we saw today. It is definitely a tourist trap but one that can’t be missed. It goes on for an entire city block. They do still have a drug department! Dorothy and Ted Hustead moved to Wall back in 1931, after finding the small town feeling, a Catholic church they could go to every day and a drug store for sale. They gave themselves five years to try to make it. Just about ready to move on, Dorothy came up with a dynamite idea on a hot dry July day. Free ice water! They had plenty of both to offer to the hot and weary travelers. Get them in the store and they just might buy something. They put a few signs out designed after the Burma Shave signs coming into town and bingo, hot and frazzled people started streaming in. By the following summer they had expanded and had eight girls all dressed in checkered uniforms serving up ice water and more. The rest is history. It is still in the family and still expanding. We started seeing signs in Minnesota.

Wall Drug
Not sure if I think this looks like fun.

Mom bought a pair of cowboy boots at Wall Drug and just about wore them out!

Ride'um Cowboy!

Rapid City made a good lunch stop. They began a downtown renewal in 1999, and it worked. It is a very viable downtown today. We had lunch at a brewery that used to be a fire station. For miles before you get to town they are advertising the brewery with real antique fire trucks as part of their signage. It worked with us! The city just completed a lovely downtown park with a “splash” fountain. They also had a group of artists commit to a ten year project, and in 2000 The City of Presidents was born. The first four were completed the first year and today each President stands proudly in a near life size sculpture. The artist has the option of depicting the President during office or depicting his character. Obama will join the group when he leaves office. The detail and likeness is really quite amazing. We didn’t see all of them by any means, but sought out some of our favorites.

Rapid City - City of Presidents

Custer State Park will be wonderful to explore. We made to the Game Lodge Campground just before a rain and hail storm came through dropping hail the size of marbles. The hail hitting the roof of the Manor made such a loud noise it caused Norm to have to put off his nap! Soon the sun was out again. It’s a lovely campground with our site backing up to a stream. It is just a ¼ mile from the Game Lodge where Faye and John will be staying.

Check out the hail!

June 11 - Badlands Continued

June 11

Chris and I drove just north of the park entrance to Prairie Homestead. The original sod home of Mr. and Mrs. Brown is still there for us to see. Homesteads were available around the turn of the century and these brave souls arrived in 1909 with their covered wagon ready to start farming. They arrived in November with their bachelor son and quickly built a sod home into the hillside. I can’t even imagine living here with sub zero temperatures over the long winter! She was 51 when they arrived and lived out most of her life right here and loving it, hard work and all. Over time hey added out buildings for the animals and a root cellar. The living room was a deserted claim shack they moved here. Early on they had neighbors. All of the 160 acre plots were taken by eager farmers but by 1915 most has moved on. Some of the furnishing were their original pieces. The have the grub box they brought with them full of some of their household items.

The Brown's Sod House from 1909

We drove up the loop road to the Fossil Walk. They have copies of some of the fossils found here. The kids were loving it. We also stopped and took a walk out to the Door area. It was another picture perfect day.

Check out the jaw bone. This area is rich in fossils.

Reproduction of fossil found in this area along the Fossil Walk.

What a gorgeous expanse!

View from the Visitor Center parking lot - beautiful!

Back at the home front, we did laundry to get ready for Custer State Park. I’m excited about meeting up with Faye and John in a couple of days!