The Black Hills of South Dakota, Sept 10-12

 

When Jecca was little, she slept as we passed Wall Drug. After all the signs along the way, she was not pleased with us!

 We had a lovely day of weather on our first full day in Rapid City. We made sandwiches before we took off for Custer State Park. We went close to the Crazy Horse Monument, but did not go in. (We gave a donation and were able to take some photos. It has definitely made progress since we were here years ago.) 

Then, we took the Wildlife Loop in the park. We saw a huge herd of buffalo alongside a herd of burros and horses and prairie dogs all in one big field. The herds were rather far in the distance, but impressive.   Then we stopped by Legion Lake and then took the fabulous Needles Highway and stopped at Sylvan Lake to eat our picnic and walk by the beach where the kids swam many years ago, jumping from the rocks.

Sylvan Lake

   From there, we went into Custer and had ice cream at Horatio's which is in the old bank building where there was a coffee shop years ago. We channeled Hank as it was a place with homemade ice cream and waffle cones. And, we got a photo from Jecca in Boston with David and Maura eating sandwiches at Dino's. Then we came home to our Home2 by Hilton and watched the U.S. Open Women's Final between teenagers Emma Radacanu (Britain) and Leylah Fernandes (Canada). Radacanu won.

Main Street, Custer

Horatio's

    The next day we drove to Mt Rushmore. We felt quite alien as there were so many people defying the masking or social distancing rules. It seems that Rushmore is a magnet now for the right wing even though you'd hardly call the 4 presidents on the monument right wing, especially Theodore Roosevelt. All 4 were complex men with flaws.

Breezy Point Picnic Area

The souvenir shop strictly enforced masking with a person at the door, but it was crowded. And, the other indoor spots (bathrooms, a smaller bookstore) had no guards and the 2 of the 5 women in the bathroom were unmasked and staring at those of us with masks). So, we did not stay long. We found a lovely and empty picnic area called Breezy Point and had our lunch and felt a lot better about life.

Along the Wildlife Loop

Legion Lake