Heading Home via the U.S., the Last Leg

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We had one more major stop on our list and that was Mount Rushmore. First though we took a quick tour of The Little Big Horn battle site where general Custer and his men were soundly defeated by Cheyenne and Sioux warriors in 1876. We then settled for the night at a campground in South Dakota where they had a really neat feature. In the evening, after dark, they had a resident native person, (I think he was Lakota), who gathered campers around a huge campfire and regaled us with legends of his people. He was a wonderful storyteller and he had everyone, adults as well as children, fascinated by his tales.
The next morning we headed for the black hills and the famous heads. I must say they are quite impressive, these gigantic carvings of four presidents' heads, namely: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. We took numerous photos, trying of course to find vantage points that no one else had used, but I'm sure they've all been tried.
We found two more places of interest, at least to us, in the next few days. One was the Corn Palace, also in South Dakota in a town called Mitchell. The structure itself is made of concrete but it is completely covered and decorated with all kinds of seeds and kernels. Every year the locals strip the old coverings and re-invent a new decor based on yearly themes. It is really amazing!
The other spot I want to mention is Indiana Dunes State Park on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. We spent our final two days of vacation there and have been back a few times since then. It's a great area for camping and hiking. There is a reasonably nice beach with lots of sand dunes. It is well run and quite affordable.
So ends our three week adventure through Canada and the U.S.A. We enjoyed both countries, they both have fantastic geographic and historic sites to discover and great people to meet.

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Photos

Little Big Horn
Still in Montana, site of the famous battle.

Mount Rushmore
Very impressive!

The Corn Palace
In Mitchell S.D. totally unexpected as you drive through the endless cornfields.

Camping in South Dakota
Our trusty little tent served us well.

Indiana Dunes State Park
A great place to camp.