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Published: September 5th 2009
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Our first stop today was Mount Rushmore. It's located near Keystone in South Dakota and is a monumental granite sculpture by Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941), located within the United States Presidential Memorial that represents the first 150 years of the history of the United States of America with 60-foot sculptures of the heads of former United States presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres and is 5,725 feet above sea level. Frank did not go in with me because he had seen it before so he headed of to explore the surrounding area a little and to get the car washed. It had the dust and dirt plus dried crusty bugs from the 10 states that we have been through so far. There is a lot to see at Mount Rushmore and I took about 2 1/2 hours to see the exhibits, view the monument and to watch a couple of films. One was about the sculpture and how it was done and the other about the park and the nature and wildlife. It's really interesting to see how it was accomplished.
Of course I took lots of photos both of Mt Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
The entrance is lined with flags from each of the 50 states and 3 territories. itself and inside the exhibits.
It was a pretty hot day with a temp of about 85 at the memorial but the breezes and plenty of shady spots made it tolerable.
After lunch in Keystone, we took a scenic route to Rapid City and then on to Sturgis which is the site of the annual Motorcycle Rally. It is usually held the first full week of August and in the past has had over 500,000 bikers during the rally. We went to Sturgis to get a Harley Davidson sweat shirt for my brother who owns a Harley and collects the shirts.
Sturgis is located at a lower elevation and consequently the temp was higher by mid afternoon. It was 92 F but a dry heat and had a bit of a breeze so didn't feel nearly as hot as it does in Florida at the same temp.
The return trip to Hill City where we are staying, was through the city of Deadwood. Deadwood is at a higher elevation and the temp quickly dropped again to 77 by the time we had reached the town.
Deadwood is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,380
as of the 2000 census. The entire town was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Gambling was legalized in Deadwood in 1989 and immediately brought significant new revenues and development. We drove through the historic district and also through some of the residential areas. It's a lovely town with many Victorian homes that have been lovingly restored. The homes are built on the very steep hillsides surrounding the city. On one street we stopped to let a deer cross. I guess it's a normal occurrence but I was surprised to see a deer just casually wandering in a residential neighbourhood.
Deadwood has quite a history as a rough and tumble town and Wild Bill Hickok is buried there.
From Deadwood we headed back to Hill City and arrived at 5:30pm. The skies were overcast and the ground was wet. We were told that there had been a brief but heavy rain with hail.
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