Wyoming!

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We're back!

So the night before last we stayed at a KOA in the Black Hills. THis was our first KOA and I loved it. It had everything you could ask for including a restaurant, waterslide, rental cars, fully loaded bathrooms and anything else you can imagine. Basically home away from home in a tent. Ang, of course, thought it was way too much. I was quite happy there. It was our coldest night out; I think temperatures dipped into the 20's. A hot shower was quite nice after that.

We left pretty early and went to our first stop, the Crazy Horse Memorial, which was only about 10 miles away. This was probably the most important, historical, and most enjoyable stop on our trip so far. To give you an accurate description, I've attached the Wikipedia entry for it below.

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument complex that is under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota. It depicts Crazy Horse, an Oglala Lakota warrior, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a private non-profit organization.

The memorial consists of the mountain carving (monument), the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet (195 m) wide and 563 feet (172 m) high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet (27 m) high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet (18 m) high.

The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion. If completed, it may become the world's largest sculpture, as well as the first non-religious statue to hold this record since 1967.



Walking around this place can give you a strange sense of sadness, but is pretty redeeming in its own right. It is such an immense sculpture that easily dwarfs Mt Rushmore. In being in the sacred Black Hills, it gives voice to the Native people who lived in these lands long before we white people got there. Like the entry above says, it is far from completion and depends on donations from indvidual citizens for work to continue. They will not accept government donations. The museum is filled with artifacts donated from private citizens and includes Native artisans selling their handmade crafts. Of course both of us had to buy something, as all proceeds go to the completion of the monument. It was really an amazing sight and experience. We both loved it there.

We left and drove straight to Custer State Park (ironic name, if you know any of the history of the area). Custer has the largest free-roaming herd of buffalo in the world. We were hoping to see at least one while we were there, but no such luck. Instead, we drove through the Needles highway, a 14 mile stretch of winding road puntuated by pine and spruce forests, and rugged granite mountains. The roads name comes from the needle-like granite formations all along the route. THere are tunnels throughout that can only allow one car through at a time. This was some of the most spectacular scenery we've seen so far. The driving was pretty hard and the car's breaks were tested a bit, but we made it through with no issues. Only seeing a buffalo would have improved the experience.

We left from there and drove to Deadwood, which is quite a touristy little town. It's named for the dead timber that lies everywhere in the surrounding hills. These hills are so steep, I have no idea how people make it to their houses in the winter. Here we went to visit Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane's graves. Playing cards marking the Dead Man's hand have been placed all over the site. Another interesting stop. We left here and drove to Sturgis. Sturgis is a pretty boring place, unless, of course, it's Bike Week. We pretty much drove straight through. We continued another hour or so, and found a campground next to a parking garage. Strangest one yet, and definitely no KOA. WE leave in a few minutes for Yellowstone, about a 7 hour drive from here. More pictures hopefully to come tomorrow. Take care everyone and we'll update again soon!

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Comments

[Marie Robidoux]

You are doing a terrific job!
You are both doing a fantastic with pictures and entries. I am so happy that you are experiencing history and our country's beauty. We all miss you! Please be safe and think wisely! We love you! Auntie Marie