Spoiler alert: We are home safe and sound :-)
One of my hopes this trip was to see Mount Rushmore. It's one of those monuments you learn about in grade school which I wanted to see so Eric made sure that we swung by as we headed out of Montana.
As we plotted our route, I asked if Eric had ever seen Devils Tower. It was a good stopping distance and is one of the littler known national monuments in the west. In fact, Devils Tower was the first US National Monument established in 1906 for its scientific value. Some of you may recognize it from the 1977 movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
That first day drive was longer than either of us wanted, but seeing Devils Tower in the evening light was pretty spectacular. The KOA at the base of the tower was largely empty, so we pulled in and made camp for the night. Although it was cool, the stars were amazing that night.
We were off to the black hills the next morning. Although Rushmore was the purpose of the wander, people had mentioned the caves that we must see as well as Crazy Horse. Being a Monday off season, we were confident in our ability to signup same day for the Wind Caves National Park tour. We were wrong :-( There were so many school buses there, we had failed to think about end of year field trips! So the Black Hills Caves remain on the list for "next time". On to Crazy Horse. We chose the road less traveled to cross back through the Black Hills National Forrest. Here is one of the more interesting parts of that road.
Here are some of the other vistas we saw on that squiggley road!
Crazy Horse was impressive on the scale of the project as well as the native american history at the visitor center. Hard to believe this project was initiated construction in 1948 with no expected completion date. Although Crazy Horse memorial is a larger sculpture, I liked being able to be so close to Mt Rushmore. Definitely would recommend seeing both if in the area!
With all the monuments under our belt, it's time to head home. We have 5 days to go 1,500 miles. We won't be able to linger in any one spot but we are sure to have some fun along the way.
See you on the road!
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