Chapter Two

Chapter Two – Lewis and Clark Senior Style
Mount Rushmore

Also on Russ’ bucket list was a trip to Mount Rushmore to see the carving of the four famous presidents.  It made complete sense to cross Mount Rushmore off his bucket list while we were in South Dakota.  At Interstate 90 we needed to travel North to Pierre to continue following Lewis and Clark’s trail.  Instead we left the path of Lewis and Clark and headed West on Interstate 90.  Passing through the flat lands of South Dakota, it was a short diversion off the Interstate to drive through the amazing Badlands National Park.  What a treat.  The rock formations of the Badlands were unique and spectacular.  The area remains basically untouched by humans as it has no real commercial value.  Leaving the Badlands National Park we returned to the interstate to continue our westward progress across the state, ending up in Keystone, in the beautiful South Dakota Black Hills.  After hundreds of miles of prairie the mountains were a cool, refreshing treat.

Mount Rushmore

Russ had made advance reservations at a delightful hotel called the K Bar S, which was nestled, just outside Keystone, amidst the tree covered hills.  We even had a distant view of George Washington’s profile.  Our first morning we visited Mount Rushmore early.  Well, early for Russ.  The monument is a remarkable piece of American Heritage.  Conceived from its inception as a tourist attraction, the project was under construction from 1927-1941.  Gutzon Borglum, the artist in charge of the project was a talented and careful man and not one worker was killed.

After our visit to the monument we drove along the Wildlife Loop in nearby Custer State Park.  We saw a pair of fighting buffalo, a pronghorn deer and beautiful grasslands.  We also took the Peter

Fighting Bull Buffalo

Norbeck Scenic Drive conceived by the early 20^th century South Dakota Governor.   It is called the highway that couldn’t be built and consists of corkscrew turns that twist around on top of each other.  Also, on the drive the designer built three single-lane granite tunnels that open to a vista of Mount Rushmore.  Buses stop there to let their passengers take pictures of the monument framed by a tunnel.  Of course we did the same thing.  Finally, we took the fourteen mile Needles Highway to complete the spectacular driving tour through the area.

The second day we explored Custer State Park including a hike above Stockade Lake.  We didn’t have any problems with the hike, which was an easy one, but occasionally slipping on rocks and tripping over twigs we realized we need to limit such hikes in the future.  If one of us trips and falls, it is no easy matter for the other one to get them to the car.  Following the hike we went to Custer City for lunch.  We chose a café bakery where I bought the best tasting chocolate donut ever.  I wasn’t getting fat, but I was trying.

We stayed four nights in the Black Hills, our longest so far at any stop.  It was great to unload much of our suitcases and actually remember where half our stuff was located.  On our third day we went to Rapid City to play golf.  It was the Red Rock course, billed as the best public golf course in South Dakota.  It was a challenging, well maintained course amidst lovely homes.  Our scores were OK.  We drove back to our hotel and had our third meal at the Powderhouse Restaurant, located just outside Keystone.  We only made the mistake of not eating there one night when we felt we had to eat in one of the touristy restaurants in town.  I had my normal meal of Walleye fish, which has become my favorite dish and Russ had Buffalo Stew served in a bowl made of sourdough bread.  Oh yes, and the martinis are very good too.