From Dickinson to Mt. Rushmore

It has been a great day with lots of new sights and sounds. We continue to be a bit on overload. Left Dickinson,ND this morning and headed south. That was pretty much a straight line with just a couple of curves. Check out the picture of me with the road sign. We got out of the car, stretched our legs, talked to the cows in the field, and changed drivers. Must have been alongside the road for over 10 minutes and only one car went by.

Can't say the same for the area we are in tonight. Stopped in Deadwood, South Dakota and went to Kevin Costner's bison gallery which is called Tatanka. It was beautiful. He comissioned the bronze statues and has built an interperative center and installed these magnificent "creatures" simulating a buffalo hunt by the Lakota Sioux. It is so quiet and peaceful and what a wonderful place to think about how we harm the earth but we can also make it better, perhaps not on the scale Costner has done but we can all certainly do our part. I wish I had looked at his movie, "Dances With Wolves" again before I came. Will certainly do that when I get home.

The elevation of Deadwood is 4,000 feet and I was huffing and puffing as we walked around town. We had lunch in another of Costner's establishments, Diamond Lil's, and for the first time had a buffalo burger. It was quite tasty. Deadwood is full of gambling casinos, curio shops, candy stores, and there is even a shootout on the main street. After the buffalo burgers we felt the need for a little sweet so found the ice cream shop. Strangers are very willing to take your picture if you ask, and sometimes even if you don't. Gave us a chance to chat with a couple from Alberta, Canada. We took the tour up to the cemetary to see Wild Bill Hickok's grave, but the entire Deadwood experience was a little toooooo commercial. We had a moment of panic when we got ready to leave and couldn't find our car in the parking garage! We are going to have to do better than that when we hit the big city.

The trip from Deadwood to Keystone which is 2 miles from Mt. Rushmore is through pine covered mountains and takes less than an hour. We are staying at another Holiday Inn Express and it is very nice. It is a suite which means it is a larger room with a little half divider and a couch. Lots of room for us to move around and worth it since we will be here two nights.

This evening we went to Mt. Rushmore to see the lighting of the statues. It was very impressive and inspiring. We're going back tomorrow to see it in the day time and then a car tour around the area, Crazy Horse Monument, and Custer State Park.

I'm calling it a night. Lee and Judi are asleep and I'm not far behind. Lee's cold (my old one) is awful and Judi feels she is a sitting duck! Hope all is well with everyone.

With love, Gerry