Day 30 - Crazy Day to Crazy Horse

Today started out like any other day. We packed up our bags, repacked the car, put ice in our cooler, grabbed some breakfast treats and prepared for a 6 hour drive to our points of interest – Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The only difference was that the morning temperature was 53 degrees.

We continued to enjoy the beauty of Wyoming as we passed through more national forests. We have had spectacular weather on this entire adventure. However, today it was eerily cloudy with the clouds hanging lowly on the mountain ranges. As we progressed through the ranges and ascended up the mountain, the early rain has changed to sleet and the temperature dropped to 38 degrees. Shortly thereafter, the trees were covered with snow – it was now 32 degrees, we were at a 9,900 elevation and it was snowing in August! The girls were having a blast with the realization that it was actually snowing outside. The roads were covered and the many motorcyclists that we saw were having a tough time of it. We pulled over to assist a cyclist and Chris used this time to make a snowball to throw at the car and for the girls to enjoy. Within 10 minutes the snow disappeared, our ears were popping and the temperature had risen to 43 degrees. We continued to enjoy the beauty surrounding us as the rain gave us a much needed carwash. It also washed away all the bugs we smashed along the way – like hundreds.

In Wyoming and South Dakota, the girls witnessed that railways are used to transport coal and other goods across our country. Everywhere we looked there was another engine pulling an endless number of cargo cars. This became a game where each of us tried to count the number of cars being pulled by a single engine. Sometime after 150 + we all got confused and began to argue. Yes, this family has had a low point or two along the way but they have been outscored by at least 100 so far on our journey. The Black Hills were so unusual as rock croppings and cliffs seemed to come out of no where. They were by far the best landscape that South Dakota had to offer.

When we arrived at the Crazy Horse Memorial, we had little knowledge about Crazy Horse and what was being built. We watched a 20 minute movie which gave us the history of Crazy Horse, who the sculptor was (Korczak Ziolkowski) and the future of the memorial. The Indians asked Korczak to build it to reflect their heritage and also to represent Native American’s founding fathers like Mount Rushmore. We were utterly impressed by the size of the memorial. At the present time, only Crazy Horse’s face is carved and the workers are blocking out the 22 story high horse’s head. The painted outline shows the 45 foot ear and the 16 foot wide eye, some 260 feet below the head of Crazy Horse. The initial blast occurred in 1948 and work has continued with the help of private funding and donations. Korczak began the work by himself and had a 12 pack to prove. Upon his death in the eighties, his wife and 7 of his 10 children have taken up the task. To better understand the enormity of this memorial - the entire Mt. Rushmore monument fits in the head of Crazy Horse alone. As Chris kept saying, “Why did Korczak feel that it needed to be built this big?”

Only ½ hour away, we traveled to a major highlight of this entire trip. Ever since Lea has been in 2nd grade and learned about Mount Rushmore, she has dreamed of seeing it. Her dream was coming true and she was extremely excited. Mt. Rushmore is a memorial to the birth, growth and preservation of the USA. The presidents also represent the initial 150 years of American history. As we neared the monument around 7:00 PM, the clouds continued to roll in and we were not sure we would even be able to see the monument. Our good fortune continued and the fog lifted as we arrived. Lea got her first glance at Mount Rushmore. It was another phenomenal rock sculpture. We visited the museum and learned about the history of the monument and how the sculptor made the eyes look so real-like. There is also a secret record room to the right of Jefferson that stores old records and documents. As we were leaving, patriotic songs were playing and were pulling at our heart strings.

A quick night in Rapid City, South Dakota and we’ll be on our way to Minneapolis.

Thanks for travelin’ with us,

Debbi