Saturday, July 12, 2008 – Day 20

Rest Day: Rapid City, South Dakota
Miles: 0.00 Total Miles: 1,437.78 BRAA Total Miles: 1,339.90
Flat tire count today: 1 Total flat tires for the ride: 6

Today was a much needed rest day. The only problem was that we had plans to go see the monuments here in Rapid City so we wouldn’t get much rest.

We started out about noon and didn’t return until about 9PM. It was well worth the time even though it was a little longer than expected. We wanted to make the most of the sights since it would be quite some time before any of us returned to the area.

We drove out to Mt. Rushmore first. The drive itself was fantastic. Entering the Black Hills again allowed us to see more of this beautiful part of the country. As we entered the Mt. Rushmore area, we began to catch our first views of the monument. It was awesome, but it would get better once inside.

We spent a lot of time looking around and went on a guided tour given by one of the park rangers. He described reasons for the selections of each of the presidents as well as told us about the sculptor and the individual who had the idea for the monument.

The best thing about the monument was that every place we walked around offered a different view of the monument. I took so many pictures of profiles, individual shots of each president, and any others I thought were worth taking. Here is what I thought was the best of all of presidents together.

As we were leaving Mt. Rushmore, there was a small traffic jam. As we made our way through it, we found out why everyone was stopped. There were three goats having lunch on the side of a mountain by the side of the road.

Next, we headed to the Crazy Horse monument. When you see the monument, it takes your breath away. The size of it is enormous. It is the entire mountain. It is not finished yet and will likely take many more years to complete. It was started 60 years ago and as you can see from the picture, it only has the face complete and some work on the arm has been finished. For size
comparison, Mt. Rushmore would fit in about the same space as just the head of Crazy Horse. Also, the arm is approximately two football fields long. We are talking HUGE! I have added a photo of the monument as it looks now and a model of what it will eventually look like when it is complete.

We continued our trip and stopped at Sylvan Lake. It is a lake at the top of the Black Hills National Park. We walked around the area taking in all the beauty.

To round out our trip, we headed out looking for bison. Most people call them buffalo, but we learned that there are no buffalo in this country. They are in Asia. What we call buffalo here in the U.S. are really bison. As we were driving down the road, we were not sure we would see any and then we ran into another traffic jam. It was because the bison were doing their thing. They are in charge and move when and where they want to. They are huge and you don’t want to mess with them if you know what is best. Take a look at this guy in the middle of the road compared to the cars to the side and right behind him.

Also, I took this video so you can see these guys and hear what they sound like.