Two more days until the big boys 8th birthday…
Another day spent travelling on the I90 East, the scenery was still very beautiful.
We passed horses, cattle, oil wells, historic battlefield sites and rolling hills for miles.
It was a nice drive for Peter, no winding mountain roads, and nice big roads with little traffic.
A brief stop in the small town of Gillette for gas, a supermarket and lunch.
Back on the I90 East and US 16 East.
More oil wells, trains, rolling hills and towns like Upton (with its town slogan ‘The best town on earth’) and Newcastle and past lots and lots and lots of bikers.
Bikers over 18 are not required to wear a helmet in Wyoming/South Dakota, so they don’t. You would think if they valued any part of their life or family they would, I have no words…
Apparently riding in short, singlets and bandanas is also the latest fashion. They would match nicely with flesh wounds in the case of an accident.
I don’t know why they even bother to enforce seatbelts.
Soon we crossed the border from Wyoming to South Dakota passing more and more bikers and upon entering the small cowboy town of Custer, the town was completely full of them.
Something must be going on? And something was going on, the 78th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. From the 3-12 August 500,000 riders, concert fanatics, and street-food enjoyers attend the rally every year. Jeepers…
Through the Black Hills National Park, passing bikers, and onto the Crazy Horse Memorial, a mountain monument under construction (started by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski) on privately held land in the Black Hills near Custer. We watched a very informative video outlining the history of the monument and took in the view of the huge Crazy Horse sculpture. Very much a work in progress, however, very impressive.
Next stop, the one I have been waiting for, Mount Rushmore National Memorial, a massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills. Completed in 1941 under the direction of Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln, the sculpture’s roughly 60-ft.-high granite faces depict U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
Although very crowded and full of bikers (have I mentioned them?) the sculpture is also very impressive.
We took our photos, sat and soaked in the atmosphere and then returned to the motorhome ready to drive to our campsite tonight, Rapid City/Black Hills KOA.
After checking in and realising there were no restaurants in walking distance we jumped back in the motorhome and drove to a delicious Japanese Restaurant, Fuji. After spending most of the day in the motorhome we all needed a break.
Back to the campsite and time to relax.
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