From Huge Carvings to Little Critters

The pictures are as follows: (This is for those of you who only want to look at the pictures and not waste time reading all about our adventure! Don't know how you will pass the test at the end though!)

1. GGG at Mt. Rushmore

2. In all its glory

3. New friends, Gayle and Diane

4. Needles Highway, notice tunnel

5. Judi's wild turkeys

Where to start!!!! Today was warm but pleasant. We started out at the Gutzon Borglum museum in Keystone to learn about the construction of Mt. Rushmore and the life of this incredible sculptor. Mind blowing how those huge faces could be carved out of the granite. Then on for lots more information at the Memorial. I never realized how much dynamite was used in the sculpting of the mountain. It is really awe inspiring and the Mt. Rushmore Museum is excellent. Walked a short trail out to the base of the mountain and met a couple of gals from near home in California. We ooohed and aaahed over our small world and thanks, Diane and Gayle, for taking my picture. Yours turned out pretty good too. Diane lives here in South Dakota now and had great suggestions about Custer State Park. More on that later.

The Gotta Go Girls met back at the very nice cafeteria for lunch. Had to have one more of those bison burgers. The shopping was also pretty good in the gift store also but can't talk about that as we are picking up lots of nice surprises! Shhhhh! We then drove almost 20 miles to the Crazy Horse Memorial to see that sculpture celebrating the lives of all native Americans. It is a very ambitious project and no federal money is being used. When completed the entire complex will be grand and the sculpture which is continually worked on will rival Mt. Rushmore.

From there we drove back the very slow and scenic route through Custer State Park. This was the first chance we had to see quite a bit of wildlife. A number of huge bison! Lots of mule and white tailed deer, antelopes (we think), silly little chipmunks begging for food and playing chicken with the car, and my favorite--wild turkeys. My preference may have had something to do with the fact that Judi attempted to attract their attention by gobbling at them and I laughed so hard I thought I would wet my pants. They wouldn't even look at us as they were intent on eating up some little hopping insects.

Riding back to Keystone through the pine woods was quiet and peaceful. We stopped in town for dinner and Judi and I had walleye (sp?), a very mild lake fish. Yummy! Lee's ribs were excellent and their martinis were ice cold and the best they have had in ages. We came back here to the Holiday Inn Express and planned our adventures for tomorrow. We are heading east on I90 to Chamberlain. On the way we are stopping at the Badlands National Park. Our NPS Senior passes continue to save us a bit of change. Take note, all you oldsters out there! We agreed that today was a superior day in the midst of all those other superior days. We pinch ourselves often and marvel at where we are and what we are doing. Lee isn't coughing so much today and I think I am on the downhill side of the cold. The jury is still out on poor Judi.

Hope all is well with everyone. Love, the Gotta Go Girls