Day 1
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Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
Day 4 - July 2
Little America, WY to Rapid City, SD to Mitchell, SD
Miles traveled: 364
Local Music:
David Anthony, Instrumental honky-tonk piano. Makes for great background music, which is exactly what I needed for the first half of today, since the trips from location to location were short and the GPS kept blurting out directions.
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The Weather Machines, I guess you would call these guys "power-pop". Couldn't really get into it. On a scale of Chevy Chase to Johnny Carson, I'd give them an Arsenio Hall.
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OK, first things first. This is what I came up here to see after all. Wow it's impressive! As already mentioned, it's a lot smaller than Crazy Horse, but it seems bigger. Probably since you can get so much closer.
And it was also educational. I learned, for example that it was never actually finished. The plan had originally been to carve the presidents down to about the waist, as seen in the artists model here.
OK, now I had to check out some of the other stuff that sprung up around Rushmore to leech off of the tourists it brought in.
Flintstone Bedrock City Theme Park. Apparently, this is a walk-through diorama, depicting the cartoon town. You have to be wary when a one-day ticket comes with a complimentary season pass. Suspicions were confirmed, by a couple of exiting tourists who told me "don't bother". So I skipped the park, and just did a quick run through the gift shop and snapped a picture of the Bronto Ribs stand. I think I got the full experience.
The back hills maze. Pretty self-explanitory.
Reptile Gardens. Excellent attraction. Incredible number of animals all of which appear happy and healthy. It also allows a lot of interaction between the people and the animals. And it's obvious how much kids love this place. You wind up watching them as much as you do the animals.
The first of Reptile Gardens two headliners. Maniac is a 16 ft 12500 lb saltwater croc. The biggest guy they have here and apparently one of the biggest in captivity.
And the second. Methuselah is a giant tortoise 126 years old, having been at Reptile Gardens for about the last 50. The little girl in the picture was visiting with her grandmother who had come to see Methuselah when she was that age! And according to the guide, she'll be able to bring her own grandkids back to see him!
I headed next for Thunderhead Underground Falls. Because it sounded cool, literally. It must have been well over 100 degrees outside, and the idea of a waterfall burried depp inside a cave sounded really refreshing.
The Chapel in the Hills, an exact duplicate of the 850 year old Borgund Stavkirke of Laerdal, Norway. I only stopped here because it was on the way back from the underground falls, but I'm glad I did. Beatiful building. ANd it's cool to see that they did the whole thing using the same period building techniques that were used on the original.
It had been my intention to swing up to Deadwood next. Fortunately I turned on the radio first. Deadwood was experiencing nickle-sized hail. And that system was headed for the Rapid City area. So instead I headed west...
Wall Drugs. This place started out as a drug store way back in the day. But the owner started to advertise with reckless abandon. He also started to add stuff. Animatronics, fountains, Photo opps, anything really. The impression I'm left with of this place is that of the 9-year-old brat who's desperate for attention. "Hey look at me! Over here! Are you looking! Wait, let me do it again!". Fitting, since that's the type of kid who seems to be filling every nook an cranny of this place.
Some of these twerps just might be the same kids I had enjoyed watching so much at the Reptile Gardens. It's so much more pleasant when a kid says "Ooo.. look at that." than when they scream "Hey look at me." ANyway, I'm rambling. Here are some more shots of Wall Drug.
Left Wall, heading west. Right off the left side of the highway, about 20 miles later, there is an inexplicable sculpture of a skeleton out taking his his pet dinosaur skeleton. Whatever.
Crashed at a Motel 6. No update tonight.
On to Day 5
