Full of Rocky Beauty

U.S Road Trip 2013

Part Fifteen

At the recommendation of a friend, we put the Crazy Horse Memorial on our itinerary. Crazy Horse was a famous chief and warrior who refused to make treaties with the government or be confined to a reservation. This sculpture on the mountain (not the white one behind A) will be the largest rock sculpture once completed, but it's already taken sixty years to get it to the point. His face on the mountin is complete and his arm is the current project. 

The museum is holds an amazing amount of Native American artwork and artifacts.

We were all pretty anxious to get farther in South Dakota that day. The Black Hills are so beautiful and we were headed to Mount Rushmore next.

Our time here in the East has led to feeling rather connected to our nation's presidents. This spot seems to be dedicated to their vision. Washington and Lincoln would have never believed that they would be immortalized this way. (Jefferson and Roosevelt are probably fine with it.) Standing at the viewpoint closest to the mountain gave me a good, albeit short, moment of reflection on the contributions made by our presidents. I would hate their job--it's lonely to be a leader. I'm glad they have each other up on that face of South Dakota rock.

I love how my kids smile for strangers. They never act this well when I'm the photographer. They were entirely uninterested in the museum down below the Avenue of Flags, so we got back in the car and drove East to the Badlands. We stopped in Wall, SD for fuel and sub sandwiches, but we din't have time for Wall Drug.

Now, I give you the Badlands. How I wish we could have spent two days here. Instead we had an hour and a half to drive the scenic route. We saw bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and antelope, but no buffalo. That will be for next time. We will return there someday.