July 8th
Pete writes: This was the most beautiful day on the trip to
this point. After sleeping in a bit and having RV pancakes for breakfast, we
headed out for a day in the Black Hills. As the day went on the weather got
clearer and very sunny, and we became very happy that we had rented a car in
which to do this touring. We started by driving the 11 miles from our
campground to Mt. Rushmore. Our rented car had a parking pass paid for by the
last renters but which was good for a year so we parked at the monument for
free. It may sound trite but as
often as we have seen this mountain and its carvings, seeing it in person is
simply breathtaking. We took lots of photos and even had the chance to speak
with a 91-year-old gentleman who had been one of the rock drillers creating the
monument in the 1930s.
After Mt. Rushmore, we drove further south and into Custer
State Park where we got some lunch and then drove the 20-mile “Wildlife Loop”.
This circuit through the state park is loaded with indigenous animals. It took
over an hour to do the loop and the photos will show you the local residents
with whom we were able to get ‘up close and personal’. It had the feeling of
the scenes we see on TV of an African safari but it was in South Dakota.
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| Crazy Horse - Look for his face in profile above and left of the hole. |
The last stop of the day was at the site of the ongoing
creation of a monument to the great Oglala Lakota Chief Crazy Horse. The Lakota
Elders commissioned the sculptor Korczak to carve the mountain in 1946 and when
he died in 1982 his wife and 10 children took over the project. According to Korczak’s wife there is no
way to predict when this project will be done. To give you a comparison of
size, the Mt. Rushmore presidential heads are scaled as if their whole body was
465 feet tall so the heads are about 60 feet tall. Crazy Horse’s head will be
87 feet high and the whole sculpture will be more than 560 feet tall. It is
simply amazing.
What a wonderful and awe inspiring day. I will turn it over
to Licia who will describe our dinner which had some interesting props.
Tomorrow we rise early and take the 8 hour drive to Woodland Park (Colorado
Springs), CO to spend some time with Kim, Andy, Matt and Mike.
Licia writes:
Hi all!
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| Licia in the Black Hills |
My section of today’s blog goes out to my colleagues from
Peabody High School. As we have
been in the same campsite for two nights, we took the time to put up our pink,
turquoise and lime green lanterns (a present from especially Jean, Cheryl and
Karin)! We also found some guitar
lights to add to our festive lights.
Ironically, we are the only RV with lights in this campsite. Go figure! To top off our fantastic day we dined with pink flamingo
decor and had a fabulous penne pasta and sauce dinner. (Again compliments of
Jean, Cheryl and Karin) I would
have baked up some chocolate chip cookies but it got so hot in the RV during
the three days of 100 plus temperatures that the chips completely melted
together and then hardened into a solid lump with the air conditioning! Some of our neighbors
complimented us on our festive look so “Thanks Peabody”!
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| Here's to you Peabody FACS ! |
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| Flamingo Centerpiece |
Off to Colorado tomorrow and a visit with the
Wojtalwicz’s. It will be a welcome
break from the road. But Kim,
please note that your washing machine will be working overtime as we clean lots
of laundry. Can’t wait to spend
time with you, Andy and the boys!
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