Wil says:
From Bismarck we drove straight west and we were enchanted by massive steel sculptures seemingly more than a 100 ft tall.
Once we turned south the freeway gave way to a 2-way road. It was quiet but the landscape was engaging as it gradually changed. As it became more undulating the planted farmland gave way to fields with cattle grazing.
We passed through one horse towns with 4 or 5 buildings.
The Black Hills came into sight and just before we reached them the town of Sturgis happened. It’s claim to fame is its bikers rally annually in August [pushing 1 million this year] and the whole place spoke of Bikers. I have never seen such a concentration of huge bars and bar patios.
If you tried to pub-crawl [or bar-hop] without a motorbike you will suffer severe exhaustion.
On to the Black Hills and the twisting, very scenic road took us to Deadwood.
Bigger and more alive than I anticipated [it is a long weekend] but definitely worth the visit.
More tree lined twisting and turning of the picturesque road eventually brought us to Crazy Horse. A very impressive rock sculpture, even though not finished, 650 feet tall.
Mount Rushmore was the real draw card for me to visit the Black Hills. When I read that it was completed between 1927 and 1941 I was doubly impressed. It really blew me away even though I knew what to expect.
Rapid City is where we sleep tonight. The holiday weekend vibe is very prevalent and the place is buzzing.
That’s it for today
Anita Says:
Today, pictures will tell the stories.
With 432 miles to travel to today, we left just after 8 am
Central time. Before we strike Dickinson we gained an hour by jumping/falling
back on Mountain time. We traveled westwards in a pretty much straight road to
Dickinson in North Dakota. Flatlands with rolling prairies was the overruling scenery
and made us think of the East Freestate.
I have seen a “red barn” too.
And some over-sized sculptures - Ducks in flight.
Dropping down south from Dickinson, my dearest hubbie,
excelled in choosing a most interesting route off the highways. The two way
traffic road
snaked through the rural areas while the prairies were substituted
by hillier country side.
We encountered some white tailed deer.
If we blinked, we would have missed Reva with its
police station and church.
In the Custer National Forest, it became more up and down with
interesting rock formations.
The snow fences alerted me of tough winters.
Getting out of the car to take pictures the fresh
whiff of the raw grass fields surprised me. I was thrown back to my childhood
years on the farm.
In Sturgis, well Wil will have to tell. I will just share my
pictures.
And we run into a Mustang Rally.
From Sturgis we entered into the Black Hill National Forest.
Rock formations here much more impressive than in Custer.
We stopped at Pactola
Lake for pictures,
traveled through the quaint little town of Hill City which
was apparently a mining town before.
But we did not see any
And then…it was time for Crazy Horse, after about 68 years still
not finished.
And Mt. Rushmore, impressive and completed before my birth (1941) in a time span of 14 years.
Dinner and hotel was in the downtown area of Rapid City – interesting
“Curio Collection” Hotel Alex Johnson.
No comments:
Post a Comment