Crazy Travelers...: Day 25 - Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and many points in between

While planning activities and tours for this trip, we agreed to do one chuckwagon show. I was able to find a company that offered a full day tour plus a cowboy breakfast and dinner show. What the heck! (It meant we could see Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and several other sights without having to drive!) Turns out it was a good thing we booked this deal.....the weather yesterday was cold (high of 45ish and rainy). So it was nice to having someone else drive and we could be warm in a big bus. Thanks Fort Hays Chuckwagon!

Fort Hayes touts their involvement with the movie "Dances with Wolves".

Tinsmith

Rope maker

"Now that's a knife"

Enjoying a hot off the griddle pancake. :o)

We piled into the bus and off we went. First stop, Mount Rushmore National Monument. (Sadly, we experienced yucky weather the whole day so the pictures aren't as bright as we would have liked. But, the monuments are still amazing!)

Mule deer

Avenue of Flags

Probably one of the best self-portraits we've done!

Mt Rushmore

Gutzon Borglum and the history of Mt Rushmore

Some of the equipment used in the sculpting of Mt Rushmore

While we were exploring the Visitor Center at Mt Rushmore, we happened upon Bill Groethe.

In 1948, he photographed the last 8 survivors of the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn.

(He was kind enough to let us take his picture but it wasn't without a lecture on demise of history through photographs due to digital photography/camera.) :o)

We didn't have the heart or time to get into a discussion on the advantages of digital photography.

A mizzly, cold day.

Wooden bridges in Keystone

Throughout our travels along Iron Mountain Road, we had to go through several tunnels and pig-tail bridges. (Keep in mind the vehicle we were in was a retired Greyhound bus.)

Rose quartz

Dense fog or low clouds?

As we were coming around one of the many switchbacks on Iron Mountain Road, this motorcycle rider decided to "give way". :o)

Our next stop was Custer State Park.

Pronghorn

Historic State Lodge (aka Summer White House for Calvin Coolidge in 1927)

Bison

Tunnel Clearance:

Width - 8' 4"

Height - 10' 7"

(The TeePee is 8' 6" wide and 13' high. We would not have made it!)

Granite spires along Needles Highway

This area received 6" of snow the night before.

More granite spires in the Black Hills of South Dakota

"Eye of the Needle Tunnel"

Width: 8' 4"

Height: 12' 0"

Seemed like just the width of the glass between passengers and the granite wall.

The white car on the other side had to back up and wait for us to clear the tunnel.

(Picture found on internet.)
Everyone collectively 'sucking it in'. :)

Watching someone come through....plenty of room to spare!

Sylvan Lake

The dam at Sylvan Lake can be seen in the middle of this picture.

Longhorns

Crazy Horse Memorial

Still a work in progress. The white drawing on the right is the outline of the horse's ear, head and eye.

Inside the visitor center

View of the memorial from the visitor's center, about a mile away.

No pictures were ever taken of Crazy Horse. The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, created what he thought Crazy Horse looked like based on stories that were told and descriptions from the Indians.

Inside the Visitor Center and various museums:

Life-size teepee

Glass beads (an integral part of American Indian culture).

Amazing collection of glass beads of all different shapes, sizes and colors.

The Seminole Indian display

Osceola

Beaded horse regalia

1/34 scale model of the Crazy Horse Memorial

Some of the tools used in the sculpting process

To put things in perspective: the 4 Mt Rushmore heads would fit inside the head of the Crazy Horse Memorial. In addition, this memorial was started and worked on for 5 years by one man vs many men involved in the sculpting of Mt Rushmore.