Americana

Is there any more patriotic place to be than Mt. Rushmore on the 4th of July?

From Mt. Rushmore, we drove to Crazy Horse Memorial. The world's largest mountain carving, Crazy Horse is a  monument to all Native Americans. Interestingly, the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, worked as a sculptor at Mt. Rushmore. After his death, his wife and some of their children have continued the work at Crazy Horse.

The mountain is so big that the four heads of Mt. Rushmore would fit in the head of Crazy Horse

What the mountain will look like when it is complete

We stopped for a picnic lunch at a park in Custer.

Then drove on to Jewel Cave National Monument. Jewel Cave, the third longest cave in the world, is lined with crystals, hence the name. We had wanted to go into the cave on a tour, but they were booked for the day. A severe thunderstorm caused the power to go out while we were in the Visitor Center, we felt like they were trying to give us a cave experience!

The rain and storms stayed with us as we drove beautifully scenic roads back to Rapid City, listening and singing along to Stephen's Spotify playlist Americana, in honor of the holiday. There were even more bison sightings! But with the rain, nothing was photographed.

We went into Rapid City and had a lovely dinner at Delmonico Grill. Greg and Stephen shared an enormous Delmonico steak; when in South Dakota, eat beef!

The folks in Rapid City are big on fireworks for the 4th of July. We had a great view of several different displays from our hotel window, really terrific fireworks that went on for hours! Literally!!!!???

One more park in South Dakota to visit tomorrow, Badlands National Park. We'll be ready!