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?