A Black Hills Drive

29 Aug 06 – We needed to conduct some business and tidy up things before heading north tomorrow so today was a driving day. These are a few of the things we ‘ran into’ as we drove new roads (and one old one). The lake is Deerlake, about 14 miles from Hill City, the Rushmore shot is the view coming from Keystone and the mountain goat was an absolute magic time. He was literally on the side of the road (mom was eating grass down below him) and the still cannot capture the magic but the video does!! A free meal at your place will get you a front row seat!!


 

Bike Ride Scenes

29 Aug 06 – These are some of the views as we rode the trail. The first shot is of the barn on a guest ranch that does trail rides and the second is of the rest of the ranch. A view and setting to die for!! The third shot is my idea of what a painting should look like – composition and all. Now if Becky will paint it for me!!! The last is of an old gold mine that now sits idle – too late for the gold again!!


 

Custer State Park

29 Aug 06 – Photos 27 Aug 06 - It was raining so we decided to do the Wildlife Loop through Custer State Park. There had been a classic car show in Spearfish, SD and some of the participants were in the park. These are some of the burros that are ancestors of domestic animals turned loose years ago (photo through windshield). They have been fed through car windows too many times!! The second photo is of Pronghorns that are very plentiful in the park. The last two photos are of the ‘Game Lodge’ in the park which was frequented so much by Calvin Coolidge and his staff it was called the Summer White House! The last photo is the view from the front porch. Pie with ice cream and coffee for two are worth $18 here.


 

Aspens

29 Aug 06 - Photos taken 25 Aug 06 - On the way back to our campground I stopped to take photos of these aspens so Becky could use the photos later to create a painting. The first one is her favorite (can you fathom her reasons?) and the second is mine. The others are just because!


 

The Needle

29 Aug 06 – Photos taken 25 Aug 06 – We finally made it to the Needle after going through several tunnels (folded in mirrors to clear the walls!). The tunnel is the last tunnel just before the Needle formation. It is obvious why it is called the Needle, right!


 

Needles Highway

29 Aug 06 – Photos taken 25 Aug 06 – We left Crazy Horse and continued on to Custer State Park to drive the Needles Highway. These photos were taken during the drive to the ‘Needles’. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. For those of us who have never been to the Black Mountains and only think of Black Mountain as in Black Mountain gold, it was a great surprise and a pleasure to visit.


 

More Crazy Horse

29 Aug 06 – Photos taken 25 Aug 06 – This is the scale model the artist created to use as the pattern for the monument. The wooden sculpture is the ‘best guess’ likeness of Crazy Horse and the final photo is of Korczak’s wife with him in the background. He literally ‘aged’ while blasting away on the mountain. He had worked for a short time on Rushmore and won a prize for sculpture which attracted the attention of the Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear who contacted him about creating something similar to Rushmore for the Indians.

 

Crazy Horse

29 Aug 06 - Photos on 25 Aug - This is of course the Crazy Horse monument started by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski in 1948 (first dynamite blast) and being continued by his wife and children since his death in October, 1982. They have removed over 7 million tons of rock to date and have no completion date. It is being done without government funding of any kind and will be 3 dimensional when completed. See http://www.crazyhorse.org/ for better photos, live cam and additional info.


 

Crawford Travel Log

Crawford Travel Log It is so easy to remember the difficulties we face but hard to appreciate when things go well. We have had some notable instances where things could have been real challenges but, due to some very nice folks, went very well. First of all the campers we have met have been great. We have identified and warmed to some more than others but there has not been a single 'stinker' in the bunch. Pleasant 'surprises' (we always expect the worse, right) the reps of our RV insurance through AARP were most cooperative and helpful getting our awning replaced (even though they do not have a claims agent in South Dakota at all!!); Spader's RV in Sioux Falls had the awning on hand waiting for us when they said they would and completed the job in a timely manner; Becky needed some medication and a telephone call to good old Dr. Sam in Lebanon and a local Walmart in Yankton, SD who put her at the front of the queue had the medicine in her hands a mere 2 hours after she started the process (you can't do that in the town you live in, right?); Jack's Campers in Mitchell, SD who not only got us a Sewer Hose door (don't ask!) but suggested it might be covered under warranty and filed the necessary paperwork; and finally the same Jack's ordered a new faucet for the bathroom sink (finish on ours has darkened) under warranty and have arranged for it to be delivered to another store along our route to be installed!

Horsethief Lake

24 Aug 06 - On the way back from Rushmore (and on the way to a Quilt Shop) we passed a ‘photo opportunity’ of a profile shot of George so we had to take it. A short way past this we stopped at Horsethief Lake for a miniature picnic and a walk ‘round the lake. We thought this was an instance where the government has done an outstanding job of creating a pleasant accompaniment to a beautiful natural setting. In addition it was wheelchair friendly!!
Scene on the Presidential trail.

Horsethief lake.

Dave's Mt. Rushmore

24 Aug 06 -These are shots that attempt to capture a bit more than just the faces on a mountain. The first one tries to show how Borglum created the effect of real eyes in the sculptures. It is not apparent here but he actually put a 'post' out of the eyes to create the right shadow! Very effective. The others are from different angles and are also to show how much rock was blown away as they blasted the 'non-president looking' rock off the mountain. Again it is not apparent but you can see the drill holes in the waste rock similar to that you see along the highways where they have blasted through rock to flatten the road. Definitely an engineering challenge.


 

Mt. Rushmore, The Presidents

Everyone has seen photos of Mt. Rushmore so I will only bore you with a couple of sets of them. Nothing to say other than it was awesome to walk up the path and be as close as you are. I was not sure what to expect but it is very well done and you are able to take photos even with our limited capability digital. The first is just because it is at the entrance and the second shows the pillars with the flags of all the states and the date they entered the Union. Comments?