Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Rapid City South Dakota.

Why you ask would someone want to go to Rapid City? Well, its where you have to go to see Mount Rushmore, the iconic symbol of America. Its an amazing thing to see in person and to hear about the millions of tons of rock which was removed and all the years it took; wow.
After a decent amount of looking we managed to find some cool mountain goats. Note we kept Mount Rushmore in the background just to prove we hadn't forgotten about it.
The next can't miss must see spot was the partially completed Crazy Horse statue. This thing is huge. The mountain has gradually been reduced since 1948 from a untouched rock to a rough shape with a completed face.
By using clever camera techniques I have superimposed a model of the statue against the partially completed mountain image. To give you an idea of how large this will be, all of the heads at Mount Rushmore would fit in the area covered by Crazy Horses head. The original sculptor died years ago but 8 of his kids and his wife continue the work. It is not expected to be finished in their lifetimes either. Thats dedication.
The next thing thats a must see in the area is Custer State Park. Its in the centre of the Black Hills and has incredible rock formations and tunnels barely big enough for a car to get through.
The road winds through amazing hills and meadows with lots of wildlife. That bull in the middle of the road wouldn't move so I have to drive through the ditch; he never moved a foot. Punk bison!
We saw dozens of prong horn antelope as well as turkeys, deer and other stuff. Lots of signs said to watch for rattlers so I couldn't get grammie out of the car.
OK, I lied. She got out once or twice. As the road climbed through the hills, there were places where you could see Mount Rushmore in the distance. Look close, its a long ways away.
Part of the road is called the needles highway. Rock formations like this cover miles of the park.
Pretty and rugged isn't it.
Years before Custer met his end at the Little Big Horn he led an expedition through the Black Hills and wrote glowing reports about the beauty. Thats why the park is called Custer State Park. What a good day. Stroked off 3 of our objectives for coming here. Lets see whats next.

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