South Dakota

We had great expectations with South Dakota, we all have seen Mount Rushmore, some of us have heard about Black Hills or the Needles or Badlands… and I tell you, we weren’t disappointed!! What a neat journey!

The reception wasn’t that good as far as weather is concerned… tremendous torrential rain couple of hours before our arrival at a really good RV park; Heartland RV Resort (one of the most organized, well managed, clean camping grounds so far).

Driving on the highway you can tell that those grey clouds are nothing but a good storm!!

We have heard about a night show at the Mount Rushmore, so we decided that even though the evening was wet and cold, we should go….. well, it was exactly that!! wet and cold.

The following day was said to be a sunny warm day so off we went again, but this time through a very beautiful road ( they say it is one of the Top 10 scenic drives in the USA, highway 16A, Iron Mountain Road). Fantastic!!

Of course the trip would not only be concentrated on the road, but on the actual monument… Mount Rushmore. This is certainly a man made wonder !!

The construction of this monument started in October 1,927 and the idea was initially to carve the busts of American west heroes like Lewis and Clark; however, the sculptor of the memorial, the son of Danish immigrants, had a different view: he wanted to commemorate the work done by 4 presidents of the United States instead!!. The carving took 14 years to complete. Just imagine how hard the carving was, the climate conditions, rudimentary tools at the time, height risks, etc…. a truly amazing job.

You can see the faces (from left to right) of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Everyone played an important role in the construction of the country which still commands the lives of millions of Americans.

Then another visit that we couldn’t miss was an sculpture in the making…. and this is an incredible story and initiative of another immigrant parents’ American! this time from Polish roots. Korczak Ziolkowski, born in Sep 6, 1,908 in Boston, Massachusetts, left home at an early age, dropped out of school and went to study Arts. Then he went to WW2 and when he came back, he was offered an artist career in several European countries; he opted to stay in the US and dedicate the rest of his life to the native Indian population and offered to carve the figure of an already famous Indian…. Crazy Horse (interesting reading by the way). It’s been 75 years and all you can see is the head, face and part of the arm. There are only 8 men working on site and funds come only from the public ( no state or federal funds). By the time this sculpture is finalized; the figure of an Indian (Crazy Horse) riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land will be seen. His family joined him in this tremendous task and even though he passed away in Oct 20, 1982, his family and members of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation continue the carving until the end which at this point nobody knows when it will be done.

As a side note, as we were walking in the main hall, we saw a Border Collie, very similar to Lassie, the dog of the TV series back in the day when I was a kid. Well, surprise!! Speaking to the owner, Preslie ( the dog we saw) happens to be the 11th generation after Lassie!!! How lucky is that!!

Then, just to top it off, another sample of what Black Hills can offer…. The Needles!!

Once again, the job by Mother Nature throughout million of years of interaction of sea, volcanic eruptions, wind, etc… Very difficult for the human being to comprehend.

This time tunnels are on offer!!

View of the RV park

Parking area for those who come to the National Park riding a horse!!

Tree number 12

The tree that will grow in South Dakota is a lovely Pine Tree that found home at the Heartland RV Park in Hermosa, SD. Jimmy was helpful enough to hand me the tools that I needed to plant it!!

Next? Nebraska!!! By for now