Going to the Four Faces

Since she was two, Kyra has wanted to see the "monument with four faces" aka Mt. Rushmore - today was her lucky day!  We started the morning at Wall Drug for some tasty maple doughnuts and a Sunday Brunch of campfire bacon, peppers, onions and eggs.  Our first destination was Wind Cave - 

A massive underground cavern known specifically as housing the largest concentration of limestone rock formations called Box Work (named by early explorers for their resemblance to a network of cardboard boxes)

The Lakota Indians view the cave as a spiritual place - the place from which their people left the underground and entered the land.  Its only natural entrance in the side of a mountain both inhales and exhales a continual just of air, making the mountain seem to breath - a glorious earthly being enjoying the pristine air of the Black Hills.

The cave remains a constant temperature of 54 degrees Fahrenheit and only a portion of its 128 miles of passages have been explored.  It's the 7th largest cave in the world (and may become the 6th as more passages are discovered).

Our park ranger was a young woman who only recently started her position.  It's obvious that she has a passion for her work, as do all the rangers whom we've met this far.  This is the sort of work I could see myself doing in the future - dedicating my life to preservation and sharing that love with others.  I think many educators are excited by the same notion... (Janet - yes?)

After Wind Cave, we hit the road once again to see find the four heads.  Because the Wind Cave tour was so long  (and wonderful) we did not have time to stop at the Crazy Horse monument.  It's a massive sculpture-in-progress that celebrates the American Indians and their way of life, encapsulated in the figure of one of their greatest warriors.  You can see the monument from the road.  The face of Crazy Horse has been completed and they have started on his horse.  It's slow, tedious and exacting work, but the result is stunning.  We wondered if you'd be able to see Mt. Rushmore from the road, as well, but soon found that such was not the case.  Chosen for its particular attributes, the rock face of Mt. Rushmore is sheilded from the road until you come directly upon it.

It was suggested that Mt. Rushmore is most interesting to see at sunset (thanks, Kathy!). The park service offers a 30 minute presentation to share the history of the monument and the reason those specific four presidents were chosen - Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln - to be commemorated.  

The sculptor Gutzon Borglum was especially enamored with Lincoln, and believed this sculpture would be an inspirational reminder of a young nation's tenacity and grit.  It certainly is amazing, and Kyra was not disappointed in finally seeing the site she had wanted to see 'since she was little' (as compared to being the ripe old age of nearly 8).

Once again, a fantastic day - and what a majestic way to end it!

Tornados, Badlands and Deadwood, oh my!

The first three days of our trip were merely put in place to get us out to our first true destination - Wall, South Dakota - to visit Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands and Wind Cave National Park.  With a total of about 1650 miles driven through states, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska (almost cheating, here - just wanted to hop into Nebraska to add to my visited-states count) we found ourselves in South Dakota.  Arriving around 7:00, Mountain Time, we popped up the camper, set up camp and decided to hit Wall Drug (a story in itself http://www.walldrug.com) for dinner. To our horror, the weather turned poor and we were stuck in the middle of an intense storm.  It was beautiful, at first; a patchwork of fireworks illuminated  the sky, and then the sirens went off!  We were ushered to the basement with 20 or so other patrons where we spent about two hours waiting out the storm - scary and thrilling at the same time.  Luckily, no one was hurt, but our tent (which we also brought for this trip) bit the dust, so to speak. 

The next day, we decided to hike the Badlands.  It was stunning!

The juxtaposition of lush prairie grasslands and barren, cavernous sedimentary rock made for an awe inspiring view.  Before hiking, we visited the prairie dog town in northern part of the park.

The kids delighted in seeing tons of these curious creatures, perched on their dirt mounds calling in chirp-like fashion to one another announcing their human spectators. http://www.npr.org/2011/01/20/132650631/new-language-discovered-prairiedogese 

For this part of the trip, we've been joined by our friends, Stacey and Andy Mowrer, whose daughter Bella is pictured here with Kyra pointing out one of the adorable critters.

After leaving the prairie dogs, we catch sight of several bison and big-horned sheep from the safety of our car as we meander 20+ miles through the Badlands National Park.  From the visitor's center, we choose to do a shorter hike that leaves you in the middle of an easily-hiked, marked section of popular buttes.

The area was magestic, offering original vistas with each conquered area.  It was easy to imagine oneself as an early American explorer, being struck by the austere beauty of this area.

Such an ambitious day of being pioneers called for a hearty evening meal, which came in the shape of a Dakota specialty pheasant dish (it's the SD state bird) in Deadwood, SD.  We dined at the Deadwood Social Club, situated atop the Saloon no. 10, which had been thrust into legendary status as the place Wild Bill Hickok was killed - shot in the back of the head still holding his Poker cards.  His hand, a pair of eights and a pair of aces 'Aces and Eights' is now referred to as the Dead Man's Hand.  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Bill_Hickok

An excellent end to an incredibly eventful day, and a wonderful way to celebrate our romance with the West.