Rapid City

---

---

I have really been amazed at all the interesting places here in this area. Mount Rushmore is just the draw to get folks here. There are caves, gold mines, wild-life parks and on and on, in addition to the know attractions.
There is a little place called Sturgis, just north of here and each year they host the Sturgis Bike Ride, the locals call it “Sturgis week.” I had never heard of it. It attracts 400,000 motor cycles! I was talking to a lady on my bus tour the other day, she was staying at the Holiday Inn, she told me that there were two groups of bikers that were also staying at there, and one of the groups had shipped their bikes over from Italy and the other from Ireland! Go figure. Thankfully the event was over the weekend before I got here!
The population of Rapid City is 59000+, so driving around the downtown is relatively easy. Calling themselves “The City of Presidents,” there is a bronze statue of a different U.S. president on each corner of a five block area. Each bronze cost $50,000; they dedicate four each year and now have 27 statues in place.

---

Photos

Ronald Reagan
So lifelike

Ike
Apparently President Eisenhower spent quite a bit of recreational time in the Black Hills.

JFK
With John junior

George Washington
No collection would be complete without the 1st President

Smoke
Unfortunately, the whole time I have been here the smoke from the fires in Idaho, Montana and now Wyoming have been visible. Today is the worst day, we can even smell the smoke. This was taken from just behind my motor home

Love that bike
I was taking pictures of the smoke when I saw this. I was tickled by the size of the tent for the bike compared to the tent for the people!