Photo by The Joneses Mount Rushmore from the road. Even from here, it's quite an astounding site. This is just one of the many, many interesting places we visited in South Dakota. — — — SLIDE SHOW: South Dakota is truly a destination — — — E-mail Gisela! Got a comment for Gisela about their trip? Sent her an e-mail, giselaontheroad@yahoo.com — — — View Larger Map
ARCHIVES: Who knew there was so much to see in South Dakota? 07/02/08 I (heart) Hart Ranch, South Dakota 06/24/08 Thunderstorms, flooding, tornados and a visit with the 'Duke' 06/17/08 Lots to see in the 'Show Me' state 06/06/08 Our final days in Kentucky 06/03/08 Moving days for Greg and his family 05/28/08 Leaving Indiana, but not before taking some of the state's best sites 05/16/08 Rallyin' in Goshen, Indiana 05/09/08 'The RV Capital of the World' 05/02/08 Out of Charleston and off to Indiana 04/25/08 Down in the Lowcountry 04/21/08 Arriving in Charleston 04/15/08 Wouldn't change a thing 04/04/08 Look back, look ahead 03/28/08 It's all about the theme parks 03/21/08 Strawberries, and more strawberries 03/14/08 From Boy Scouts to ‘Stars on Ice’ 03/07/08 The gang's all here! 02/29/08 A day with friends from Frederick 02/22/08 Under the weather 02/15/08 Earning our ears 02/11/08 Training for our jobs at Disney World 02/01/08 A special day 01/25/08 Into the Keys 01/21/08 The holidays in Florida 01/03/08 Arriving in Florida 12/28/07 And so it begins ... 12/17/07

The Black Hills are awesome — I really don’t know of any words that would truly describe the beauty of these mountains. Each area is prettier and each panoramic view more breathtaking than the previous.

We had met another full-timing couple in Des Moines, Marty and Peggy, who are also staying at Hart Ranch and the four of us went exploring almost every day.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial – the carving of the four president’s heads (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln) is amazing.

We just stood there in awe looking at the colossal monument. Washington’s head is six stories high! President Calvin Coolidge dedicated the memorial in 1927 and the work of Borglum, the sculptor, began. He never saw the completion of this project; however, his son, Lincoln, supervised the completion of the monument.

The visitor center displayed many interesting details of the planning of the project and the work of blasting the area before the sculpturing could begin. In the evening, the park rangers held a ceremony honoring the veterans. All military and veterans, including Marty and Ralph, went up on the stage and the American flag was taken down, folded and then passed from one person to the next — quite a touching ceremony.

Crazy Horse Memorial is another amazing memorial. This monument is in honor of the Indian Chief Crazy Horse of the Lakota tribe.

The sculptor was Korczak Ziolkowski, born 1908 in Boston and invited by Chief Henry Standing Bear to the Black Hills to carve Crazy Horse. The first blast in the Mountain was in June 1948.

Contrary to Mount Rushmore, which is a federal monument, Crazy Horse memorial is a total non-profit, educational and cultural project build by the public. Zielkowski died in 1982 long before the unveiling of the nine-story high face in 1998. His wife. Ruth. and several of their 10 children continue his legacy. I was impressed with the huge visitor complex especially with the "Indian Museum of North America."

The museum had a tremendous amount of information about Indian tribes and many interesting artifacts. I must honestly say I found it much better and more informative than the Native American Museum in D.C. There were also dancing performances and a laser-light show at night that was fantastic. I could go on and on talking about this memorial – while Mount Rushmore is certainly impressive the Crazy Horse is so much more.

The Badlands National Park is another area we visited. It is located about 60 miles south of Rapid City near the town of Wall.

The Badlands are a large region of mountainous peaks and deep valleys. In the visitor center we learned that 75 million years ago when the Earth’s climate was warmer than it is now this area was covered by a shallow sea. The bottom of the Badlands, a grayish-black sedimentary rock called Pierre, are a great source of fossils.

In fact, beneath the Badlands, so we were told, lies one of the world’s finest Oligocene fossil beds of mammals that lived here many million years ago. In driving through the park we had some spectacular views of irregular ravines, incredible ridges, hills and cliffs. We also could see the various colors in the rocks indicating the weathering and erosion throughout millions of years. I had heard of the Badlands before but had no idea how mind-boggling this area is, just amazing.

We also took a ride to Deadwood, nestled in the valley of Deadwood Gulch below Mount Moriah. It was a lively gold-rush town in the late 1800s and a popular place for gunfighters and gamblers e.g. Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday.

Wild Bill Hickok was shot here during a poker game in 1876. He is buried in the Mount Moriah Cemetery and so is Calamity Jane – of course we visited the cemetery.

We also went to the historic Adam House museum and learned about the interesting history of this town and its famous (or infamous) people. Another museum in Deadwood had cars and other paraphernalia from old movies and TV show. It was fun seeing these items and remembering the movies or shows.

There were several other interesting places we saw and scenic drives we took – we were busy every day enjoying our stay at the beautiful Black Hills.