Mount Rushmore - Black Hills of South Dakota

July 7, 2011 – Mt Rushmore National Monument – Black Hills of South Dakota

We needed to have some maintenance performed on the Motorcoach, and there was a convenient Caterpillar Service Center in Rapid City, within easy driving distance of Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park and Crazy Horse Monument, all places we planned to visit, so we booked a spot in an RV Park on the top of a hill overlooking all of Rapid City. Rapid City is a great location in the Black Hills of South Dakota. There are a myriad of things to do in the area. In addition to the 3 attractions mentioned above, within 50 miles is Badlands NP, Hot Springs, a Mammoth Archeological site, Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, and Sturgis, the small town that swells to a gigantic population for a week or two when Bike Week comes to town.

Our first days sightseeing took us from Rapid City to Mt Rushmore, then a very scenic route around a 30-35 mile loop.

Here is the happy couple at the monument.

Starting on the loop road takes you down beside the monument where you get a profile view of Washington.

The monument is a large part of the countryside and can be seen for miles. Here is a shot through a tunnel on the road.

And a little better perspective through the tunnel to see the monument better.

And another shot a mile or so further on. 

Glad I’m not driving the Coach on this road. First of all, the tunnels on this loop would not allow passage of the coach, but additionally, this is a shot down the hillside, showing the 3 roads below the one we are on. You can’t see the four 180 degree hairpin turns connecting the roads as it works it’s way down the hill. Good Grief! Even though we’re in the car, Sylvia has white knuckles again, gripping the door handle and the emergency brake handle. I’ll proceed slowly.

Down on flatter land again, and the white knuckles have relaxed and the smile came back...

We passed a lake where several fishermen were fly fishing from boats. Fly fishermen/women are everywhere out here. I guess it’s the only way to catch the trout. On several rivers in the parks we saw ‘Fly Fishing Only’ signs.

 

The landscape here changes dramatically as there are rock spires everywhere.

Here is one of the spires called the ‘Needle’ for obvious reasons.

What was he thinking??

Leaving the needle the road goes through this..

Which turns immediately into this…

Further down the road we saw this needle.. Is that a bird on top of it?

No, just a rock climber. AND NO, IT IS NOT ME…

Here goes the imagination again. Could this be a natural sculpture of Homer Simpson holding a bouquet?

We stopped for dinner in a small town, where we found this ‘old time photo’ shop.

And some homegrown entertainment.

Then we had ‘ribs’ at Desperado’s.

Great environment and great ribs.

On the way back to the RV Park, we stopped back at Mt Rushmore because we heard they light up the sculpture in the evening after a moving ceremony. We were so glad we stopped back after dark. It was great.

Here is Sylvia enjoying the night ceremonies wearing one of the fabulous bargain purchases we made in Estes Park.