Carhenge - The Badlands - Mt Rushmore - Crazy Horse (3)

After leaving Sidney, we turned due north and drove toward Scotts Bluff.

For a decade, in my younger years, I made duck/pheasant hunting trips to the Scotts Bluff area. One of my goals on this trip was to show my wife the Scotts Bluff sites. Sadly, it was not to be.

When we arrived in Bridgeport, NE the highway department had placed large signs proclaiming "Fresh Oil" on the road. Not wanting to make an extensive detour, or having fresh oil on the relatively new Camry, we chose to head to The Badlands and save Scotts Bluff sites for another time.

Today was spent playing the stereotypical tourist! The first "Tourist Hot Spot" was "Carhenge" near Alliance, NE. You have to admit, the guy had a wicked sense of humor.

After seeing this, Carolyn said she felt like she was in the movie National Lampoon's Vacation.. LOL

The Badlands National Park

The Badlands Visitor Center provided a break and lunch, before we began the tour.

Mother Nature at her best and like no other place.

The pictures speak for themselves.

After leaving The Badlands, we quickly arrived in Wall, SD, the home of Wall Drug and the 80 ft dinosaur. We bought gas and passed on all the tourist hoopla. When traveling in expansive spaces we operate on the top half of our gas tank.

The high point of our trip to date came when we arrived at Mount Rushmore. Truly an amazing accomplishment and something everyone should see. Our weather today was nothing short of spectacular! It was in the mid 70's with a slight breeze and absolutely no humidity!

The "Avenue of Flags" leading to the amphitheater in front of Mt Rushmore.

There are a thousand different angles and great shots of Mt Rushmore. I seriously doubt you could take a bad picture. Carolyn and I both think The Black Hills are just beautiful!

From Mt Rushmore it did not take long to cover the 15 or so miles to The Crazy Horse Monument. As you can see, this monument is a fifty year work in progress. It is totally privately funded.

To give you an idea of the size of this monument, the hole under his arm is actually ten stories high.

The statue of what it will eventually portray, with the actual monument directly behind it.

After driving across The Pine Ridge Indian reservation and later watching the video at the Crazy Horse Monument Visitor Center, Carolyn and I were struck by one quote from Chief Crazy Horse which I will paraphrase. "The white man broke every promise he ever made, save one, to take our land." How could any white man not feel shame for the way the Indians were treated?

From The Crazy Horse Monument we found a room in Hill City, SD. This is a tourist town much like Cherokee, NC. Tomorrow we will drive through Spearfish Canyon, check out Deadwood, and on from there.

The weather has been wonderful. We both hope it continues. We would also like to thank those who have commented both here on the blog, and written e-mails.

"Life is the Art of drawing without an eraser" ~John W. Gardner~