Day 5 - Mount Rushmore and Bear Country

Well, after going back to sleep for a few hours after the storm, we got up, took showers, had breakfast and loaded up to go to Mount Rushmore. I don't know that we really knew what to expect, but it was everything we expected - and more.

We took highway 85 south from Elkhorn Ridge RV park to Deadwood. Deadwood is Day 6 - so I'll hold off telling you about it until then. After about two miles, the road started to rise into the Black Hills. Jimmy tells me that the Black Hills are so named because of the pine trees that cover the hillsides. I will admit that, from a distance, the hills do have a very dark color.

Once through Deadwood, we hit highway 385 towards Keystone, SD, headed towards Mt. Rushmore. Of course, we get caught behind two RV's, one of which is towing. The road is a little twisty, but not really bad, and the RV did not slow us down too much. In fact, it slowed us down enough where we could enjoy the views, see the deer, and see the farmsteads.

It was quite interesting when we arrived in Rushing. It looks a lot like Gatlinburg did before it got so commercial in recent years. There is a four lane main street, but both sides are covered with souvenir shops! There are a lot of people walking on the streets in shorts and tennis shoes. Also a lot of hotels and more businesses under construction.

As we leave the commercial part of town and head up the hill towards Mount Rushmore, the road twists and turns. As we made one left turn, I saw the sculptures. I wish we could have just stopped right there and looked at the awesome mountain face. Having seen it on television so many times in no way prepared us for the real thing. At one moment, you are looking at a regular old mountain, and the next moment you are seeing Mt. Rushmore in all of its glory.

So, up the hill we go and pay our $10 to park. Kind of interesting that it is a National Park, but your Golden Age Pass doesn't work for the parking. The parking lot was built and is run by a non-governmental organization. But, the parking is nice and up we go through the entrance to the park. Once again (but closer) there are the presidents. We walk through the avenue of states and get closer and closer. You look up there and are amazed that humans could actually have 'carved' those four faces out of the mountain side. You see the rubble from the carving below the faces, but you really cannot visualize that this was once just a mountain top.

Jimmy and I decide that we are going to walk the entire walk around the park area, including the strenuous part down to the sculpting house. For about half of the walk, it is just a boardwalk type walkway. But then we reach the steps down. I don't find it very strenuous at all. We get to the bottom of the walkway and realize that, to get back to the visitor's center and the ice cream, it is all up hill. So, up we go, taking breaks periodically. At the last stop before the top, a little boy in brand new Davy Crockett boots came by. I commented on his boots. He, of course, had to stop and tell us all about the boots, his Latoka lizard that he was wearing around his neck and his trip next year to Tennessee to see all the sites about Davy Crockett. What a fun break.

We finally reach the top and get our ice cream. that was about the best break of all. There are chipmunks and robins fighting over every crumb that is dropped by a tourist. Some of the crumbs are dropped accidentally. Some crumbs are put on the ground on purpose for the little animals. The little animals think that they are stealing, but the people are just casually feeding them - against all of the park rules, of course.



From Mt. Rushmore, we head back towards Rapid City. We are going to Bear Country - where the animals are loose and the people have to stay in their cars and drive through. The sweet young lady at the entrance actually asked if we were over 60!!! What a hoot. We got our ticket and started our drive to look at the wild animals. We first see a couple of Rocky Mountain elk. Around a curve is a whole family. The males all have fur on their antlers. My Daddy and Brother would have been drooling already. Over the cattle crossing and there is a herd of reindeer in the road walking from car to car. The we see the Big Horn, Dall and Rocky Moutain Sheep. All have their own little areas, but they think that they are free. From there we head out into bear country. Folks, they were everywhere. There were brown bear and grizzlies all over the field. They would walk down onto and across the roads just disregarding the fact that there were cars. One of the funniest was a black bear who just sat down on his rear end and started scratching his arms and chest. Then there was another who was scratching his back on an old log. We saw bison and miniature donkeys also. But, by far the most fun thing was the baby bear enclosure. There were about 13 baby bears who were just having a marvelous time playing with each other. They had a pine tree (looked like it was cut off and stuck in a pipe to hold it up) in the enclosure and the little bears would run up and climb it and fall off. They would stand up an box with each other and just run across the enclosure and roll down the hill with each other. If we had had a chair, I believe we would have just sat there and watched the babies forever.




But, all good things have to end, so we headed north towards the interstate and Fudrucker's for supper. Of course, we didn't remember where the Fudrucker's was and missed it. So, off to Deadwood to find a place to eat and back to the RV for some sleep.

Day 6 will be Deadwood, SD. I'll work on pictures later tonight or tomorrow morning.