Tuesday August 21, 2018 Horseback riding, Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Our first stop of the day is horseback riding (Evie’s pick) in Hill City. It was quite chilly so we are all bundled up to keep warm on the trails. While listening to our riding instructions it started to rain (oh please no!!). The lady said we would get wet and kept on with the instructions. Just in the nick of time, her boss (?) came over and said we would be delayed for about 20 minutes for the shower to pass. YAY!! Showers pass and we are assigned our horses. Violet road Dunnit (sp?), Evie rode RJ and I rode Grover (I take this as a good sign as he was my favorite muppet on Sesame Street).

Truth be told, I am scared. The horse moved just after I got on. That was not in the instructions!!!  It startled me, so there I am with my hand on my handlers head. Apparently I am not the first to do that as he wasn’t surprised. My mantra was – I can do this, I can do this. It’s only been about 46 years or so.

The three of us are ready to go. Yes, my handler is showing me the ropes :).

And we are off with our guide Becca in the lead. She was very sweet and made everyone feel comfortable. She just graduated from University of Cinncinati with an equine business degree. She would like to have her own stables someday. Oh, and I know what you are all thinking, that is it no coincidence that I am the first behind her. (the old lady with no horseback riding experience – yep you can say – it’s exactly what I was thinking!). Our trail takes us through the Black Hills National Park. It’s very pretty. We saw a few deer on our ride. If I wasn’t so nervous I would have taken a picture.

And the next picture shows us coming back to the stables. I now know why cowboys are bowlegged. It really was very nice but don’t think I will be doing it again any time soon. The girls really had a good time. We have lunch (Violet and I share a buffalo burger, it was yummy!) and back on the road to Crazy Horse Memorial.

The Crazy Horse Memorial was started in 1948. Only the face has been completed as the foundation only uses privately raised monies. They wish to keep complete control of the project so they have not accepted any government monies. When (if) completed the head will be 87 1/2 feet tall, arm (the horizontal part of rock in front of face) will be 263 feet long and the horse ( below his arm) will be 219 feet tall. And it will be the world’s largest carving. Next stop Custer State Park.

We were told when entering Custer State Park there were buffalo sightings along the road. Ummm…. they were on the road. The one on the left, we think is the father, came right up to the car in front of us. We were wondering if it was going to ram it. We think it was just protecting the mother and her baby. You can see all three in the picture below. We were very excited to see them up close and personal. They were so close when we passed them we could have touched them. One buffalo was totally blocking a pickup truck going the other direction. He had no choice but to wait for the buffalo to move.

 

 

Down the road we see 3 pronghorns. They were not fazed by the cars at all. Just beautiful!!

And last but not least we see about a dozen burros. They are very bold and walk right up to the car. The above picture is Violet feeding this one chex mix. She said it tickled when they ate from her hand. And the next picture is Evie feeding it chex mix. The girls were laughing like crazy.

Couldn’t resist a picture of a baby burro.

Off to Mount Rushmore. To get there we have to drive on a 15 mile very windy road. More hairpin turns than I could count.  On which there are 3 single lane tunnels. Pretty crazy.

Violet and Evie outside Mount Rushmore National Memorial. We arrive in time to view the monument and watch the evening lighting ceremony.

The ceremony starts with a park ranger explaining that it was an idea by historian Doane Robinson to have it built to promote tourism in South Dakota, he persuaded sculptor Gutzon Borglum to do the work. It took 14 years to complete. They chose George Washington as he is our founding father, Thomas Jefferson as he is the father of the Declaration of Independence, Abraham Lincoln for his love of our country and his commitment to keeping our country together during such a difficult time and Teddy Roosevelt for his dedication to conservation. Mount Rushmore is named after a lawyer investigating mining claims in the Black Hills in 1885. It is the top tourist attraction in South Dakota. After the ranger spoke we watched a movie and then the mountain was lit. The final part of the evening was the retiring of the American flag.

Here are all the veterans on the stage. Mike is the 2nd from the end on the right side of the stage. It was very moving and people were very respectful. The ranger asked 6 veterans to assist in folding the flag. It was very solemn. People applauded the veterans several times. Totally awesome!! Very patriotic 🙂 !!!

DAY 7 – WEDNESDAY AUGUST 22, 2018        RAPID CITY

Today was a day to sleep in, have Mike cook us breakfast, clean the motorhome and do the laundry.

After all the work was done we went into Rapid City for the Central States Fair. We wanted to see what their fair was like. It was hard not to compare it to our Erie County Fair but we did. It was about 1/4 of the size. It was fun to walk around and see their exhibits. They had a whole building of just chickens. I had only seen white ones so I was totally amazed at the different types there were. Quite beautiful birds. And there was a building of bunnies. The girls wanted me to buy them one to take home. When I said “no” they started scheming how they could pool their money together to buy one. And when we said it couldn’t come in the motorhome, they stopped scheming. I know, we are total meanies. But, I think I hear a big sigh of relief from their parents right now. The bunnies were super cute. But, aren’t they always when they are someone else’s????

Til tomorrow – Love, Dona