Crazy Horse World's Largest Mountain Carving

The face is the first notch to the left, it's a profile, you can see the nose sticking out.

Work began in 1948; it took 50 years to complete the face of Lakota Chief Crazy Horse.  We won't see the completion in our life time:(  But the girls promised to bring our grandchildren here one day to see it.

This is what it will look like when complete.  It is completely privately funded project, they do not except money from state or government. 

I can't believe we missed the twice a year event of night blasting on the mountain.  We were right down the road and didn't even know it was happening.  It was the 85th birthday of Ruth which is Korczak's wife, he is since passed away and the 135th anniversary of the Battle of Little Big Horn.  Our neighbor went, he said it was really cool.  Oh well, we can always come back in September to see the second one.

Pics from Needles Highway

It's fun to just pull over and climb!

Saw Mr. Buffalo along the road.  Art wanted to run up and smack his butt, the girls were cheering him on.  I of course, talked some sense into him. 

This is what you see atop of Needles Highway.  Granite rock formations, I hear there is really nothing quite like this anywhere else. 

The bridge we passed through to get to "the Needle"  the rig would never fit through this.  No bigger than a pick up truck can squeeze through.

Here is the famous needle.  This formation is HUGE!!  Great place for climbing, getting out and stretching your legs.  We climbed here for quite a while.  Met some great families and compared our findings along the way. 

Truly breakthtaking! 

On our way to Yellowstone

Departed Rafter J Bar at 8 am.  An hour behind scheduled, but that's ok.  Arrived in Wyoming at 10!  We have to drive across the entire state today, but the landscape is amazing.  I have now seen the longest trains I have ever seen.  Along with oil wells drilling right out in the fields.  Art is driving while I'm typing away, he just said look out the front, and there they are snow capped mountains!!  AMAZING!  You really can't get bored seeing all this natural beauty.    It's now noon and we have about 6 more hours until we pick up our rental in Cody, Wyoming.  Then I have to drive it to our destination in Fishing Bridge.  I'm not thrilled about that, but we don't have a choice if we want to be able to tool all around the park.  It is really cool to meet all different people from all over and listening to their experiences.  Many have told us the Fishing Bridge is the place to see the great grizzly bear.  There are signs everywhere about how to be "bear safe".  I don't know what the hell we are in for.  Also hear the bugs are terrible!  Not looking forward to that at all.  But, I'm sure the scenery will make up for it.  Nicole's playing guitar in the back bedroom and Sarah is the co-pilot right now.  She's BORED!!  GO FIGURE!

Last Day in the Black Hills

We let the girls sleep in this morning.  Woke up to crystal blue skies and it's going to be a hot one.  Did a 5 mile bike trail right from the campground all the way into Hills City (the center of town).  What a great trail, we rode by lots of horses that ran up to us to say hi.  Drove over old wooden bridges.  We weren't on the trail 5 minutes when I had to swerve to miss a snake sunbathing in the middle of  the trail.  It was quite a workout for us, especially Sarah.  But she pulled through like a champ.
As soon as we returned from the bike trip we all jumped in the pool back at camp.  Next was showers and finding food.  Jumped in our Ford Tour Ass (Taurus) what a sorry rental car we ended up with.  But, better than nothing I guess.  We drove into a little town called Keystone, adorable!  Finally found a descent place to eat. Called The Ruby House. I was a little nervous when our waitress didn't know what Chicken Frances was.  Oh boy! We each had a pasta dish made four different ways, at least they couldn't screw that up.  After an early dinner we went exploring, and we are so glad we did.  We decided to take the other end of the Needles Highway, that was the same road we tried taking the RV on the day before.  Put it this way, we would have been backing down if we had gone much further.  Thank goodness we ran into the family in the minivan that told us to turn around.  When I post the pics you will see why it's called that.  The rock formations and views are just breathtaking!  Met a lot of really friendly people along our route today, kept running into them at all the hot spots for views, lakes and rest areas. This was definitely the most beautiful highway I have ever seen.   After about three hours of exploring, it was time to get back to camp and do laundry.  Just what I wanted.  Thank goodness for my big helper, Nicole. 
At about 10 tonight a crazy little storm blew threw and knocked out the power at the camp.  Luckily we are running on our own juice tonight, propane and batteries. 
Once again I'm too exhausted to load pics, it's a takes so long with this wifi.  But, tomorrow is a long day of driving so I will have plenty of time to load pics.  It's off to Yellowstone!

Crazy Horse

Well, I don't know if anyone has been keeping up on this, but Crazy Horse is another amazing place.  It is another sculptur on the top of  an enormous mountain that will some day be an indian legand named Crazy Horse riding a horse.  This is a tribute to all American Indian Tribes.  The man that started carving by the name of Korczak has died.  But, the family has taken over this great task of creating this monument.  If you want to learn more, google it!
We had a very full day and are completely exhausted.  Sarah finally got to swim in the pool at the campground.  I have to say this is probably the most beautiful campground I have ever seen, at least so far.  It is so nice, we talked Art into saying an extra day.  We really want to relax and enjoy, it's hard to do that in 48 hours before moving on.  We will have another full day tomorrow for more exploring.  Until then, good night.  I am too tired to upload pics tonight.  Will have to wait till tomorrow.

Rafter J Bar Campground: June 28, 2011

Woke up early this morning, Art's still on EST time for some reason.  The girls were not happy that we dragged them out of bed at 6:30, but we wanted an early start.  We arrived at Mt. Rushmore at about 8:45 am.  It was good timing, the crowds started rolling in shortly after.  It was very cool.  There is a pretty neat walkway that winds through the woods directly in front of Mt. Rushmore that we followed.  It had great information all along the trail that educated us on the history of the 4 presidents and the sculptor behind the monument. 
After Mt. Rushmore we drove through Iron Mountain and the Needles Highway.  Saw some beautiful views.  Climbed to almost 6,000 ft.  The landscape is truly beautiful around here.  I can't even explain how breathtaking the mountains are.  There were a number of place along this narrow winding road that you can just pull off and hike, have a picnic or just take in the sites.  I can't believe how many motorcycles I have seen.  Obviously this is the place to ride.  Along our journey today we saw Buffalo walking down the road and lounging in the fields.  We also saw tons of prarie dogs, they are adorable. 
Next was lunch at the Dark Horse.  I tried buffalo burger at this place because I had read it's higher in protein than chicken or steak, so I had to try it.  I wasn't thrilled in the least.  Probably the last time I have it, at least around here.  I have to say the food around here has not been all that wonderful.  But I can't say I wasn't worned.  I haven't found a good salad anywhere that I have been so far.  I finally went to a grocery store and bought the fixings to make one myself.  Ok, no big deal.  Now we are off to Wind Caves National Park.  Amazing scenery!  We took a 90 minute tour into the wind caves which was pretty cool.  The girls thought it was pretty neat as well.  Word has it Jewel Caves are even more amazing, we will try and hit them tomorrow.

A Day in the Badlands

What a beautiful day in the badlands!  Crystal blue skies, breezy and comfortable.  Even though Art was anxious to get to NAPPA, we spent a few hours touring the badlands.  How could we not, they are amazing!  Words can't really even describe it's beauty, so I won't try. I will attach pics.  We saw a prarie dog and a bighorn sheep.  Next stop, "Wall Drug".  If you think it's just a drug store, you are mistaken.  It's a awesome little shopping town.  Filled with all sorts of goodies.  The girls and I even got our cowgirl boots there.  Off we went to Rapid City.  First tried a Chevy dealership, we get "no sorry, they discontinued that part."  Then tried another NAPPA down the road, and we were in luck!  Art made the repair right there in the parking lot and we are back on the road.  Thank God for Macgyver!  We finally arrived to our camping destination, well worth the wait.  Rafter J Bar Ranch - beautiful!  Unfortunately, we couldn't get our rental car until the morning, so now we have to drive the rig back into town for some food.  A woman I met told me she had a nice lunch in Custer State Park, so off we went.  What she didn't tell us that it was on Needles Highway, which is only made for cars.  Didn't realize that until we climbed to over 5,000 ft and ran into a family in minivan coming down the hill and they stopped up and said "you can't go up here, you will never make the tunnel.  I about freaked out, and then we had to turn our 33 footer around on one of the hair pin turns. What a trip!  Anyway, we made it back to Hills City and had a wonderful dinner at The Alpine Inn. 
Tomorrow morning it's off to Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills!

Still in the Badlands

Good morning.  Ran into our first problem with the rig.  Yep, Art was right, it smelled like gas inside every time we would stop.  So, he is diagnosing the problem right now.  We kicked both the girls outside which is flooded all around us from the insane storm last night, they keep lossing their flip-flops in the mud!  Woke up a little chilly this morning, didn't realize you need to sleep with the heat on around here.  But, it's a beautiful, crisp sunny day.
Ok, he found the problem, we need an O ring because the carborator is leaking gas, that should fix it.  Macgyver has made a temporary repair until we can get to "Wall Drug" which has a NAPPA Auto parts. 
Off we go, we are going to do the Badlands Loop and hit the road.  We are only 30 miles from NAPPA, cross your fingers!

The Badlands June 26

We are here!  Entered the Badlands at about 8:30 MT, just in time to catch a little bit of the sunset.  It has been a very long day of driving, but we made good time.  This is right where we planned to be.  Drove for a total of 14 hours today Wow, this place is beautiful.  We are staying one night right in the "Badlands Loop".  As soon as we pulled into our site, a very strong storm hit.  We can't even hook up it's so bad out.  Strong winds, pouring rain and lots of lightening.  But, tomorrow looks like it should be beautiful.  As soon as we pulled in to the badlands we met two bikers (and I mean bicyclers).  They left from Times Square, yes, that's right New York City, exactly one month ago today.  They are biking all the way to the California Coast!!  OMG!  you should have seen their legs, talk about muscle.  These guys biked through some lightening storm.  It's just about 10 pm here and we hope to get a good night sleep so we can be up with the sun and see some wildlife.  Oh, the first sign we saw was "Be aware of rattlesnakes"!  Great!

Pics from Cleveland

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Jerry's Guitar

The rambler out in front of the Marriott (stayed our first night.)

My cowgirl

Party in Cleveland food district

The Pit Stop

Finally!  Breakfast and coffee at last.  Stopped at a little place called "The Pit Stop".  Wasn't sure what to think when we first walked in, but turned out to be some yummy home country cookin.  Best buttermilk pancakes.  Quick 45 min stop and now back on the road at 11:45.  Beautiful, sunny day in Minnesota.  We are driving through hundreds, literally hundreds of wind turbines, VERY COOL to see.  They are enormous!  We have a lot of road to cover today.  Miss you all!

Day 3 leaving Wisconsin

Well it's 10 am CST here in Minnesota and still haven't found a place to eat breakfast.  I NEED MY COFFEE.  Sarah just woke up, we have been driving for 4 hours already.  Nothing out here but cows, and beautiful country.  We plan on driving all day today until we hit South Dakota.  No problem!  I'm really getting the hang of driving this rig.  Nicole and I blasted country music all the way through Indiana, I thought Art was going to jump out the window.  Pics will be coming soon.

Wisconsin Border

Made great time today.  Arrived at the Illinois/Wisconsin border at 10 pm CT time on June 25th.  We are parked at a rest area.  Everyone is sleeping but me (Dawn).  It's pretty noisy here with a bunch of truckers, but need some sleep.  We plan to drive all day tomorrow, we have about another 1,000 miles to South Dakota and plan on being there by tomorrow night.  That would get us there a day early.  And Art was worried we wouldn't make it by Monday!  I'm beat, going to bed.  I never "blogged" before and had to figure all this stuff out.  Nighty nite!  PS  still trying to figure out how to add pics!  you will have to wait until tomorrow.

In Indiana

So far it's been a great trip.  Made it to Cleveland OH in 9 hours.  Stayed at the Marriott the first night. They took good care of the old Rambler for us while we enjoyed their hospitality. Got up early and walked to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 3 blocks from hotel.  Definitely glad we twisted Art's arm to visit.  As soon as we were done with a late lunch, we were back on the road.  Just landed in Indiana, took 3 hours from Cleveland.  Prayed we would see a gas station soon, down to the fumes in the rig!  We found one.  Gas is $3.50 here, not bad.