We left Wall, South Dakota as early as we could and headed over to the Black Hills area of South Dakota.
From Wall, the landscape was pretty bare and rolling hills. But as we neared the Black Hills, all of the sudden, pretty significant hills/mountains and pine trees covering them. Very interesting how the landscapes can change so dramatically as you drive through states.
Mt. Rushmore National Memorial is located in the Black Hills National Forest area. It was a very cool place, especially as you saw the heads appear on the mountain as you drive into the area. Pretty magnificent project that commemorates our country. Lots of people were there, and we enjoyed our stop. A little hike and lots of pictures later, we were ready to move on. You can only stare at the stone heads of 4 dead white guys for so long. :)
We decided we wanted to drive through Custer State Forest and see some wildlife, and then maybe check out the Crazy Horse Monument/Mountain. But apparently a wrong turn out of Mt. Rushmore, and we were at Crazy Horse pretty quick. Okay. We'll do that first.
Definitely a different experience. This is a private venture by the sculptor (who is deceased) and his family, with alot of private help, not government funded at all. They have a long ways to go before they are done. But their intention is to have this as a center of learning and reverence for the Native American. This will be the biggest sculptor in the world. It's hard to get a sense of it, but I believe they said that Mt. Rushmore would easily fit into Crazy Horse's head. Huge!
The top picture is what it will look like. The bottom is what it does look like. They've only been working on it for 60 years or so. Give em a brake!
Okay, so now onto the Wildlife Loop drive through Custer State Park. Lot's of winding roads through pretty good sized mountains covered in pine trees. But toward the southern end of the park, it opens up into rolling green hills and not too many trees. What did we find? Well, more blasted prairie dogs, some Pronghorn, and a big herd of buffalo! We actually had to drive right through a herd and they were right outside the windows. The kids loved it! These are wild animals, although they seemed pretty used to people.
After that, we drove up toward the interstate and were able to pass through Deadwood. Which is a pretty good sized, tourist stop now. Then we were on our way to Wyoming!
Empty roads, rolling barren hills, with some cattle here and there. There was actually one spot along the interstate where a sign said, "No Services Next 67 Miles." Meaning: no towns, no gas, no food. Pretty desolate area.
As we neared our nightly stop in Buffalo, Wyoming, in the distance although they looked like clouds on the horizon at first, gigantic snow studded mountains gradually appeared as we drove closer and closer. These are the Big Horn Mountains.
On our way to West Yellowstone to stay with the Johnston's next!
No comments:
Post a Comment