May 8 - Mount Rushmore & Crazy Horse Memorial, SD

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Wow, a sunny morning! The forecast had been for rain today, so let's go visit Mt Rushmore.

Mt Rushmore is 23 miles away in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

It didn't take long to drive to Mt Rushmore. Interestingly it is a National Park, but we did not have to show our annual pass; just pay the $11 parking fee - a small price to pay for such an impressive memorial.

We strolled towards the Grand Terrace, through the flags of each of the states.

On each face of each column is the name of a state and when it joined the union.

And this is what we came to see.

After being awed by the memorial, we headed to the cafe for a coffee. There we met a local couple, Connie & Greg, who visit the park frequently. We had a lovely visit and a change of plans. Connie & Greg both suggested we should visit Rapid City, the City of Presidents. Okay, we're off the Rapid City when we leave Custer. Connie & Greg also suggested we should visit the museum on the lower level under the Grand Terrace. Another great suggestion, so we said our goodbyes and headed down the elevator. 

We found this explanation interesting:

This is what Mt Rushmore looked like before the blasting started:

Mt Rushmore in profile.

It was hard to leave, but we headed back to Alfie. We decided to stop at the Crazy Horse Memorial on the way back to camp.

This is a model of what the finished sculpture will look like:

The Crazy Horse Memorial was very interesting. We'd had a long day, so we headed back to Beaver Lake to relax for the rest of the day.