Day 41 Summer Vacation 2009

Here is the route that we will follow today as we leave Custer and head for Deadwood SD.

Not very far from our hotel in Custer SD is the Crazy Horse Memorial. We spotted it off in the distance as we drove along US 16.

At the visitors center we watched a movie that told the story of why and how this mountain is being carved. In the foreground of this next photo is a scale model of the sculpture and in the background you can see the progress that is being made.

The mountain carving is far from complete, it was started in 1948, but progress is being made slowly but surely each day. It is very precise and exacting work, because one wrongly placed charge of dynamite could ruin the whole project.

Here are some photos of the blasting and the men working to create the sculpture.

This photo gives you an idea of how much work still remains.

There is no federal funding for this project, all the money is raised from the money that is collected at the entrance and by selling items in the gift shop.

Our next stop today is Mount Rushmore National Memorial. We got a sneak peak at George Washington when we pulled off the road to take some photos of the rocks and I looked up and there he was, a side profile.

We parked the car and wandered around the memorial taking photos.

After our visit to Mount Rushmore, we headed out on the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. Another great scenic drive, through high mountain passes, with lots of twists and turns and spectacular views and several one lane tunnels through the rock. The drive also included several views of Mount Rushmore.

The GPS gives you a good sense of how twisty the road is.

We drove through Custer State Park where we found some donkeys that were begging for something to eat.

And a bit further along was a herd of Bison crossing the road right in front of us.

Once we got past the Bison, the rock formations became larger and more spectacular.

The greatest rock formation of all is the Needles Eye, I had to stitch two photos together so that I could get a shot of the whole rock. The two individual photos are beside the one that I stitched.

After leaving the Needles Eye rock formation, we wound our way along the remaining section of the scenic byway and then headed North to Deadwood South Dakota where we will spend 2 days.

I took lots of great photos today, if you wish to view them all, you can click on the link to my FLICKR site.