Colin:
We got up thinking to get an early start heading down to the two memorials after breakfast at a local cafe.
We drove through Spearfish Canyon into the Black Hills.
Our first stop was Terry Peak, based on Keith's parents' recommendation. After turning off the main route and following a dirt road for a few miles we found ourselves at the summit of a ski mountain and were afforded a great view of the hills to the south and to the surrounding area.
After this we drove by Deadwood on our way to the Crazy Horse memorial. The sheer scale of the statue is hard to comprehend, as it dwarfs Mount Rushmore both in size and ambition. There is a nice museum on nomadic life on the plains before the arrival of Europeans up through the early 1900s.
We were a bit conflicted, however as we both got the impression that the memorial currently serves more as a means of wealth production and less as a memorial and educational center as it was originally intended. For the sake of fairness we'll watch the progress of work on the statue and the attached facilities before passing judgement.
From there we had lunch at a diner and headed over to Mount Rushmore. As we approached, rain began to fall and we were both concerned we may not be able to see anything. As you can see from the photos below our concerns proved unfounded. The carved faces are hugely impressive and, as at Crazy Horse, the attached museum was fun and interesting.
Sadly due to road construction we werent able to go through Deadwood on our way back and instead settled for dinner at a Chinese buffet thinking we will rarely ever get such a value from all you can eat.
After waddling back home, we mapped out our plans for the rest of the state and tried to get to bed at a reasonable hour.
No change.
1307 miles total.
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