South Dakota 9/15-9/24, 2012

We traveled on 9/15 from Sheridan to Rapid City, SD where we stayed at the KOA.   On Sunday we headed for Mt. Rushmore to revisit the Monument.   We hadn't been there since the 1980's when we took our girls to see it.   My, what a big difference!   Since our last visit a new granite front entrance had been put on it, and a new amphitheater was added, as well as two book stores and a Borglum Museum.    We took many pictures and enjoyed the gift shop and book stores.    While in the gift shop, Jack met one of the men who worked on the the sculpture and bought an autographed book by the man.   It was nice to see that they had a "made in the USA" section to the gift shop, although the majority of the clothing and souvenirs were made in China :-(  

After Mt. Rushmore we drove the 16 miles or so to see the Crazy Horse Monument.   When we were there in the 80's, only the "armpit" was being worked on.   Since then his face is done, his arm is outstretched, and they are beginning to work on the horse's head.   They now have an Indian museum, a gift shop, and an area where the Native Americans may set up tables and sell their crafts.    What impressed us the most was the fact that they DO NOT ACCEPT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FROM THE US GOVERNMENT!  All work is paid for by donations and admissions to the site.   As Crazy Horse is quoted as saying:  The only promise the EuroAmericans kept was the promise to take our land,  and they did!"  

On Monday we stayed in camp to take care of household chores, and to pack away some of our summer clothes and get out our warmer clothes, as the evenings were getting down into the 30's and the days were only getting up to 50-60 degrees.   Brrrr.

Tuesday we left Rapid City for Mitchell, SD and drove through the Badlands.   We were fortunate enough to see some wildlife on the side of the road, and stopped at the visitor's center to see the movie on the Badlands.   We camped at the KOA in Mitchell - no tv, no wi-fi signals so rented The Hunger Games from Redbox and watched it.  

From Wednesday to Monday the 24th we visited with relatives in Iroquois and Brookings, SD.   We celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary with Barb and Rollie Walter and went to dinner at Tailgate restaurant in Huron, SD.