Black Hills (SD) Part 2

7/28/24 - We drove about 40 minutes from our RV park and parked at a trailhead to cycle the Mickelson Trail (109-miles of railway converted to a trail).

We cycled 20 miles round trip

Afterwards, we drove to Custer where we had great Mexican (thanks to a gift certificate from Encanterra friends)

We walked around Custer for a bit

Luckily, we missed the hailstorm on the way home

7/29/24 - A quiet day...

Pat had success fishing on a stream nearby (Rainbow trout)

I went for a walk through the nearby park and saw lots of waterfowl and an osprey nest

7/30/24 - We moved 30 miles (from Rapid City to Custer) because our RV park was already booked (over 6 months ago) for Bike Week. It ended up being a great change...the spot in the Custer RV park was surrounded by tall pines and very peaceful.

Our new spot in the pine trees

We also visited the Crazy Horse Monument and were totally impressed! An orientation movie and great museum explained how sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started working on it by himself in the 1940s (dragging equipment up/down by hand) until his subsequent wife, 10 kids, and now grandkids joined his efforts. We took a tour to the top where we learned how improved technology are increasing the speed of the project. They fund everything from admissions and donations...no government funding is accepted.

Touching his fingernail

This shows what it will look like when done. The faces of Mt. Rushmore are about half the height of his face.

A smaller version, also sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski

If interested, this video from Mike Rowe/Dirty Jobs shows some of their current sculpting techniques.

A tower crane and robotic arm (which they are expecting in the near future) makes Korczak's grandson believe it will be complete in his lifetime.