Mt. Rushmore and so much more

Yesterday, June 30th, we decided to do something a little different. We left our KOA at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at Ft. Hays about 45 minutes later for an old fashion chuck wagon breakfast. The buildings were the set for the movie Dances with Wolves, which was filmed about 16 miles down the road in South Dakota.

After breakfast, we got on a tour bus and relaxed for the next 9 hours while bus driver, Bill, took us every where. What a treat for Ethan to let someone else do the driving so he could look around and see the beauty around him.
Our first stop was Mt. Rushmore and it was so awesome. Before deciding to take the tour, we had wanted to hike the trail to the top of Mt. Rushmore, but the trail was closed....so the tour it was. Our bus driver was a very funny Christian man who did a great job entertaining us while we were on the road. He took us through scenic tunnels, we had lunch at Calvin Coolidge's summer White House, stopped many places to get pictures of the Cathedral Spires and the Rock formations called the Needles. Our last stop was at Crazy Horse Mountain and Memorial. Such an impressive undertaking.

We headed back to Ft. Hays for a real chuck wagon supper and Western music variety show. It was a long day, but a wonderful experience for us. We were taken places we would not have gone, and didn't have to worry about the driving.


Entrance to Mt. Rushmore







There was a great boardwalk that took you around the base of the "rock". This picture is as close as you can get to the Presidents--totally awesome!







Look what walked in front of the bus!







The Cathedral Spires are in the back ground. Bus driver Bill couldn't wait to get his hands on the iPad to take the picture.







One of the many rock formations called the Needles. They are huge!







Our bus driver drinking Maalox before taking us down the the winding switch back roads we were traveling.







At Crazy Horse. The model in the foreground is what the mountain sculpture will look like when completed. The mountain is about a mile away from where we are, and it has taken 50 years to do this much of the sculpture. They estimate it could take another 40 years, if they get the funding for the project. WOW! It's very inspiring to see the dedication to finishing Crazy Horse.






Us with Bill, the bus driver.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:South Dakota