Day 31: My Advice - Skip Rushmore, Visit Crazy Horse
Today we drove into South Dakota. We planned to see Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse monument, and Custer National Park.
First we went to Mt. Rushmore, and as expected, there were the heads of 4 old white guys carved into the mountain. It was great and everything, but unlike the Grand Canyon or the great Sequoias, you get the jist from photos. On the way out, we passed a small heard of wild mountain goats. Strangely, I think I was more intrigued by the goats. Sorry if that makes me sound unpatriotic. I guess the goats are accustomed to being photographed because they didn’t even flinch as I inched towards them to take their photo. (Man, those horns look sharp.)
Next we went to Crazy Horse monument. Unlike Mt. Rushmore, you HAVE to visit Crazy Horse. Built in honor of all Native American Indian tribes, the carving of Crazy Horse is still a work in progress. The great mountain carving was commissioned by several Lakota Indian Chiefs. In 1948, Boston-born Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski blasted out the first rock out of the mountain. He continued his work for 34 years. In 1982 Ziolkowski died, but his children have continued his work. When finished, the statue will include Crazy Horse’s upper torso and the head and neck of his horse. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude of this scupture, all 4 heads of Mt. Rushmore could fit inside Crazy Horse’s head. Currently, only Crazy’s Horse’s face is complete, but work with heavy machinery continues today. Unfortunately, due to lightning, we were not able to ride the bus up the mountain to see the face up close, but a photo through my binoculars gives you a better idea the gigantic size.
We couldn’t go to Custer National Park because of rain. I was sorta disappointed because I wanted to see some more buffalo. BTW, did I mention that I want a pet buffalo for Christmas? Since Custer was out of the picture, we headed on towards the Badlands.
Finally, we stopped in Wall, SD, home of the infamous Wall Drug. We didn’t drink any free ice water, but as you can see from today’s photos, my mom and I made some new friends there.
