Crazy Horse & Mt Rushmore

Today was our last full day in Rapid City and we still had to see Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and drive the Needles Highway. So that’s what we did.

The Crazy Horse Memorial was first on the list. As usual, Ken had been here before but I hadn’t. The current visitor’s center was new him, however, and we spent a fair amount of time looking at the museum displays before we even got to the viewing veranda.

The mountain carving still has a *long* way to go. As usual, raising money is the big issue, but personal politics is also raising its ugly head. I gather there was/is a lot of controversy about putting the money into a fancy new visitor’s center instead of the mountain. I appreciated it, however. I enjoy knowing the story behind the monument; seeing the model and, more especially, the overlaid poster really helped me visualize what was going on. Maybe in another ten years we’ll go back and see how much more has been done. Certainly there’s plenty to see in the area that we didn’t get to.

1/34th model of Crazy Horse

Easier to see the plan with a drawing over the photo

After Crazy Horse, we headed through Custer and turned east on 16A toward Custer State Park. It was time to drive the Needles Highway (Hwy-87). This road lived up to its reputation and is another not-to-be-missed scenic drives. Just spectacular scenery.

We stopped at the Sylvan Lake General Store for a very unmemorable reheated pizza lunch. But it was that or wait in a long line for a sit-down meal. After lunch we wandered down to Sylvan Lake for a look-see. Very picturesque.

Sylvan Lake

And then it was on to the Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. We walked the Presidential Trail and photographed the faces from several angles. As the clouds passed over the sun, we got various lightings, too. All fantastic to see. However, poor Teddy was always in the shadows.

Yes, we were here!	The faces above the walk of flags
Poor Teddy was always in shadow for us	The evening ceremony

After we walked the trail and listened to a Ranger talk at Borglum’s Studio, we didn’t have much energy left to tour the Visitor Center. At least I didn’t. So back to the hotel for rest, relaxation, and supper. But we came back for the evening ceremony. Interesting to see the lighting, but I wouldn’t bother to come back to see it again unless we were staying much closer. It was very crowded and the talk wasn’t all that interesting to me.

[written 11/30/13 – long after the fact]