Wind Cave, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore

On June 7th,  during our drive from Ogallala, Nebraska, to South Dakota, Danny and I stopped at Hot Springs, S. D. to tour Wind Cave.  Three different formations are found in this cave that we haven't seen before.  They are frostwork, popcorn  and boxwork formations.  We went down 10 stories deep and were thankfully whisked back to the surface in an elevator. Here are a few photos of our tour.

This is the small opening into the cave when it was discovered.  Wind was so strong it blew the hat off of a man's head

Here we are in one of the narrow passageways of the cave. 

The last room we toured was very wide and low.  Danny looks like he's holding  the ceiling up with his head.


Yesterday, we toured two great monuments - Crazy Horse Memorial and Mt. Rushmore.

Crazy Horse will be huge if it is ever completed!  It is privately funded, so it will be many years before it is completed.As you can see from the model below, the deceased sculptor's family who is working on the monument still have an enormous job ahead to complete it. Crazy Horse is pointing toward "My lands are where my dead lie buried."  Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear wrote and asked Korczak Zilokowksi to the Black Hills to carve Crazy Horse because he and fellow chiefs wanted the white man to know that the red man has great heroes, also.

The hole under his arm is large enough to hold a 10 story building.

The model is 1/34  scale

Crazy Horse is 3/4 mile behind us.

After lunch, Danny and I drove the short distance from our campground to Mt. Rushmore.  WOW! The mountains that lead to Mt. Rushmore are amazing.

We were astounded at the magnitude of Mt. Rushmore.  Such history!  What an amazing feat to make these prominent American figures spring from the mountain.

George Washington,  Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln 

Got a lady to take our photo in front of the monument

A fifteen minute ranger talk told us about how Gutzon Borglum
chose Mt. Rushmore as the sculpting site and some of the
problems he encountered.

Can you see why the Indians named these "The Black Hills"?

 We were thrilled with the opportunity to tour these sites. They were both impressive, but we were astounded with the magnitude of Mt. Rushmore.  Such history!  What an amazing feat to make these prominent American figures spring from the mountain.

After returning to the campground, we enjoyed some great chili that Linda prepared!  Yum!  My turn to provide dinner on Tuesday night,  What will it be?

 Today we hope to worship in Custer and then drive the Custer State Park Loop. We're told we'll see lots of wildlife on this drive - buffalo, deer, antelope, and prairie dogs.  Get ready for some animal photos!

Until later, be safe!