Hello from Keystone, South Dakota! We arrived in the Black
Hills last night. They really are just
spectacular! We went from dry almost
cement like terrain to hills, cliffs, and sharp turns full of ponderosa pines.
We spent the day doing as many touristy things as possible. There is so much to see here and we really
only have one and a half days!
Our first
stop was Mt. Rushmore. We drove there
last night to see it all lit up. That
was a great site but today was so much better.
We took our time and did all of the “amenities” like the sculptor’s
barn, the Presidential trail, the museum,etc.
To think that one man had this idea of sculpting stone and it has made
such a lasting impression. Of course we
were there at a very patriotic time, which made things all the more
exciting. The “presidents” were walking
around the park and giving talks. There
were representatives from the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota tribes, which settled
on the land that holds Mt. Rushmore. We
listened to one Lakota tribe member play a wooden flute and give talks. He shared some Lakota words and showed his
instruments, and other Native American items such as cups made from buffalo
horns, blankets from their hides and rope made from their fur.
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| Duncan & Douglas with a Lakota tribe member |
Next we
drove to the Crazy Horse Memorial. This
is a privately owned memorial that honors all Indian (a term used very often
out here) tribes. The sculpting is still
being done. When completed it will be a
massive sculpture that will also serve as the home to a university that focuses
on cultures and medicines. The exhibits
were full of Indian artifacts. There
were outfits, headdresses, knives, tomahawks, baskets, pottery bowls, blankets,
and jewelry all on display, the majority of which had been donated to the
museum and had “certificates of authenticity” attached to them.
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| Crazy Horse |
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| Duncan panning for gold! |
Our third
stop of the day was at Jewel Cave National Park. Unfortunately everyone else had the same idea
as us because all of the tours were booked for the day. Where else makes sense to visit on a 95
degree day but a cave that is at 49 degrees! We went into the visitor center
and did all of the activities so the kids could earn another Junior Ranger
badge. What we didn’t expect was the
Ranger talk that just happened to coincide with our visit. The ranger was an employee of the National
Park Service as a fire fighter. He
talked about how they fight forest fires in big areas such as the parks. The talk was so informative and interesting
that he held the kid’s attention for over 45 minutes in the blistering
heat. He showed them all of the clothing
that they wear and the equipment they must carry in their backpacks to the tune
of about 85 lbs. The fire fighters wear
special shirts that change color when they heat up too much. Speaking of the dangers of forest fires, we
were not allowed to have any campfires at the campground tonight due to the
severe dryness that is out here. When we
were at Jewel Cave we could smell the smoke from a nearby fire. We also learned
that 80% of the forest fires out here are caused by lightning. I can see why now that we have experienced
the extreme heat with no break. When I
went to the camp store to buy some wood, they told me about the ban and said,
“No fires, no outdoor smoking, no fireworks and no charcoal grilling. The only thing you can use at this point is
propane but that may change by midnight tonight.” Pretty scary stuff.
Tomorrow we will have to rise and shine. We have about a 7 hour drive to get to Cody,
Wyoming. I called places about a week
ago looking for lodging, knowing it would be a long travel day. We finally found a room at Wild Bill’s Antler
Inn! At least it will be a hotel with a
real bed and shower! Tomorrow night we are scheduled to attend the local
rodeo! Yee- haw!
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