Driving Time

 We set off Saturday morning winding our way through the Black Hills of South Dakota for the last time.  The steep winding roads may have been a work out for Georgie Girl, But the slow pace required allowed us to enjoy the serenity of the landscape. Our next stop was out of the way but the only destination on our plan for the next two days and would be a welcome respite.  Once out of the Black Hills we were back on the plains, at least Interstate 90 provided a smooth ride heading East to Chamberlain, SD.  The Not-so-well-known Monument is called "Dignity" of Earth and Sky. 

Dignity of Earth and Sky is a soaring sculpture of a native woman standing high on a bluff above the Missouri River.

Dignity honors the Native Nations of the Great Plains. The sculpture is located on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River at a Rest Area on I-90 near Chamberlain, South Dakota.

Her Star quilt is made of 128 diamonds in the colors of the water and sky that surround her.

Dignity is 50' tall, 32' wide, weighs 12 tons, and is made of hundreds of pieces of stainless steel.

To be fair to all of you, I had never heard of this.  Lynn was told about it by a friend and decided to add this to our itinerary. It does appear to be gaining in popularity, there was a consistent line of folks walking over to the sculpture while we were there and looks like a following on Facebook for it as well.

We headed back West on I-90 about 10 miles and then Due South.  From there on, The photo on the left is a good depiction of the next 2 days travel.  I have found a new definition of Monotony, and that photo says it all.  I guess these roads were constructed back before they realized how dangerous an unwavering straight road could be.  Staring at this scene for hours with nothing changing but the roar of the wind and road can put you to sleep better than a glass of warm milk and cookies.  We did however learn that below the seemingly endless blanket of grass, lies he Largest Sand Dunes in the USA  Over 20,000 Square Miles of it.  And further south, more of the same but instead of sand dunes, a vast Ocean floor now mostly sandstone still looking just like the picture above.  A few communities poking up from the landscape along the way, little more than remnants of a time long past.  One such community is working to remain on the landscape and provided us with a place to rest along the way.

Taylor, Nebraska is a community with a population of just 182 souls with almost half as many more "Villagers" both in town and a few miles outside of town to brighten a weary travelers heart.  We were driving along and noticed a couple of "Villagers" at the corner of a fence row in the middle of nowhere.  Lynn and I both smiled at each other thinking "what was that?"  A short time later we came across another couple, this time 2 boys with fishing poles.  As we approached the town of Taylor, they seemed to be there greeting us as we arrived.  It did brighten our spirits and the town had a small park just a block off the highway with RV spots available. I won't go into much more here other than to leave this link to The Villagers of Taylor Nebraska. We stayed the night, so glad for the break and ready to relax.  The next day we got going, knowing we would eventually venture past the endless blank landscape to find the old west historic town of Dodge City, Kansas. 

Having been to all of our planned destinations, Dodge city was just a place on the map that might provide more than an overnight stop.  After 2 days for nothing but a blank landscape and what seemed like driving forever, 2 days parked anywhere would have been good, and Dodge City looked like it would make for a nice stop.  We booked a spot at the Gunsmoke RV Park.  A cute little park, themed after the old tv series of the same name.  Full hook-ups available, a swimming pool, showers, laundry, and a smattering of trees.  We passed through a thunderstorm on our way in thankful for the free car wash removing most of the insect carcasses stuck to the windshield.  We promptly set up camp and got dinner started.  It's now day 2 and we've hardly ventured out of the RV.  Tomorrow we pack it all up and make our way back to Arkansas for a few weeks. 

Thanks for visiting, give us a call or drop by if it suits you.

Steve, Lynn, Toto, Bilbo, and Georgie Girl

Monumentous

 I should have started this post yesterday.  Yesterday, was a bit more relaxed than we had originally planned.  The drive from Sundance, Wyoming to Spokane Creek Cabins and Campground outside of Keystone, South Dakota was just over 2 hours. Originally, our plan was to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse along the way but since we were going to stay here for 2 days, we decided to just head to the campground and take it easy on day one.  Lynn had reserved a spot at the top of the campground which put us away from the majority of other campers and gave us a view from above it all.  No cares or worries, just relax and enjoy the evening for tomorrow will be a day of destination and discovery.  

We adjusted our plan today to make a circumferential loop from Mount Rushmore to Crazy Horse, through Custer State Park and back to the campground.  We left the campground and wound our way through the twisting roads leading back to Keystone, SD.  A mining settlement established in 1883, It wasn't incorporated as a town until 1972.  Today its a tourist hub,  everything you can imagine on the main drag from trinkets to mugs and coffee to......   OH, A place like this may not have a starbucks, but there must be some place that can make me a good Latte' right?  Bingo, Holy Terror Coffee was there to fulfil my caffeine desires.  I swept into the suicide lane, turned into the strip mall of shoppes, and skillfully backed my Georgie Girl into a parking space right across from the door.  Loaded up on a Latte', Blueberry Muffin, and a Giant Cinnamon Roll that was calling to me through the display case, Yum.

In a few minutes we were back on the road and just 5 minutes away from Mount Rushmore. I wish my mother was still here to give me the specifics, but my best guess is I was here about 50 years ago.  I had looked over the area on Google Maps and noticed there was a big difference in what the Mount Rushmore visitors area looked like compared to when I was last here.  Back then, it was little more than a 1600 sq. ft. building with an equally small observation deck looking towards the sculpture from such a distance that as a teen, left me sort of unimpressed.  

Today, the new visitor center can accommodate 2,000 visitors per day.  It features granite colonnades, an Entry Promenade paved in granite, a Parade of Flags followed by an amphitheater below the carvings.  The Parade of Flags features the flag of each U.S. state and territory, with a pillar showing the date that it entered the Union.  There is also an exhibit hall that displays information about how the granite sculptures of the presidents came to be.  Being able to get that much closer brought me a lot more respect for the work and scale of the monument than I had as a teen.  Not to diminish it in any way, I guess I was equally impressed by the work done to improve the visitors center facilities.  

On to our next stop, the Crazy Horse Memorial.  A mountain monument to Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land.  It has been under construction since 1948.  Considered the world's largest mountain carving.  When finished, it will be 641 feet long and 563 feet tall. The head of Crazy Horse alone is 87 feet tall, 27 feet taller than the president's heads of Mount Rushmore.  

This is a multi-generational carving, the original sculptor's grandsons are still at work on it.  It seems like little has been done since I was last here but that's not true.  It's only the sculpture itself that has changed so little.  It is the millions of tons of granite that have been removed and still to be removed before the sculpture can be revealed from within the mountain.  If you look closely at the picture, you can see the equipment on top of what will eventually be his arm. 

The hole under his arm is little more than a working tunnel.  You could drive a semi through it right now.  When it's finished, the opening will be 150 feet from below his arm to the horse's back. You can see his finger is nearly finished now and the hand is beginning to take shape.  We've already decided to come back in 5 to 10 years to see its progress.  A scale mockup of the finished statue is on display at the visitors center.  They are estimating the hand, arm, shoulder, hairline, and the top of the horse's head will be finished by 2037.  

From here we were ready to complete the loop back to the campground.  This would take us through Custer State Park.  The Park looked well kept and there were several camping areas, lakes, playgrounds and everything you might expect from a State Park.  In fact it looked so nice we decided we would rather set up camp in the State Park next time we come back to the area.  We stopped near a picnic area to let the boys out for a short break.  In all our coming and going of the day, Toto and Bilbo were stuck with either one of us most of the time while we explored the visitors centers.  We double checked the route back to the campsite to be sure it wasn't going to lead us to one of the tunnels Georgie Girl couldn't fit in, It was safe...

Hwy 16A was designed as a Scenic Route only, full of hairpin turns, corkscrews, and 1 lane tunnels less than 10'9" x 10'9".  Just after the turn back onto US 16A was a sign denoting "Bison Are Dangerous, Do Not Approach."  and we thought "maybe we'll get to see some."  It was definitely a scenic drive, and as we were in no hurry, I set the Cruise control at 25 mph and pulled to the side whenever there was a car or 2 tagging behind.  Lynn wanted to make a record of that, and I proceeded to do it a few more times along the way.  As luck would have it, about 3 miles short of the campground, Lynn spotted a Bison grazing on the hill about a hundred yards from the road.  I was able to catch a glimpse of him before rounding the next 15 mph curve and the hills and trees broke any chance of seeing him again.  Shortly, we were leaving the State Park boundary and approaching the campground.  Dissatisfied with just a glimpse, I asked Lynn if she would mind if we went back to see if we could get a photo.  She reluctantly agreed and I found a spot just outside the campground big enough for Georgie Girl to make a U-turn.

We drove back to the general area where we spotted the Bison and I was searching for any pull-offs nearby that would allow me to stop and get out for a shot.  Luckily there was a pull off just ahead on the left with an SUV parked on it but plenty of room left for me to get in.  The SUV had stopped to observe the Bison we saw and now they were just 50-60 feet from the road.  I parked and got up with my cell phone headed for the door only to see that one of the bison had actually walked between the SUV and Georgie Girl and was alongside my drivers window.  Now there were two of them, One on each side of the road flanking us.  Both Males and both between about 3-4000 lbs. each.  I was looking for a photo op, and got a good one.  We got a few more shots and they wandered off a little further.  Now I had to continue on until I could find another spot wide enough to turn back around and head back to camp.  There wasn't one until we got back to where US 16A turned off.  We got turned around and headed back but luck wa still in my favor and the Bison were now headed up the road coming towards us.

So we stopped to let them pass... and finished our trip content that our plans were fulfilled.

We got back into our campsite and hooked up utilities.  Toto and Bilbo were restless now and there was a trailhead right beside our campsite so I decided to take them for a hike to give them some good exercise and I could use a bit myself.  OMG, this trail went right up the side of the mountain to the top where there was an American Flag on a flagpole mounted to the granite Boulder at its peak.

I had to stop twice along the ascent to rest and catch my breath.  Toto and Bilbo were pulling me up the hill for a good bit but they slowed down to a casual walk before we made it to the top.  Walking back down to camp was a relief, and the boys made little time of devouring their dinner and crashing out on the bed.  A nice quiet time for me to get this blog back up to date.  The next two days will be travel days heading East to another not-so-famous monument, then southwest to the Old West town of Dodge City, Kansas.  Thanks for dropping by, please leave a comment to let us know you came.

I'd like to get your thoughts about the blog to help me decide how best to proceed.  Any and all suggestions will be considered.  Bye for now

Steve, Lynn, Toto, Bilbo, and Georgie Girl :-)