Friday morning

What a fabulous morning we had driving the needles highway and viewing Mt. Rushmore! I took tons of pictures and will try to put a few of the best here. The highway winds through the rockies and there are several tunnels that are one lane wide...you honk before entering! They are holes blasted right through the rock. Amazing!

I didn't realize that we would see Mt. Rushmore so far away. We stopped for me to take a picture through the trees to the valley below and Bill said "Do you see it?" I had already taken the picture when I actually saw the faces in the rock! I took several more as we got closer but driving the curvy, switchback road (OH FOR THE MIATA!) we only got occasional glimpses. When we got to the memorial there was a huge parking complex that cost $10. We paid and then saw the "No Pets" sign so Bill stayed in the Jeep and I ran up the many steps where I could get a better picture. Tons of people, bathrooms, bookstore and a path leading to an amphitheater that holds 2500 people! Didn't go that far. We really enjoyed it from further away. We could see it plainly with our new binoculars (we forgot our old ones at home...thank goodness for Wal-mart!)

Mindy found some little friends! Chipmonks in the rocks along the road. They were so cute I just had to take a picture. They weren't as ready to be friends with Mindy as she was with them. Oh well. Their loss.

This afternoon we go meet Rich at Crazy Horse. I'm charging the camera battery to be sure I'm prepared for more photo ops! I'll post about that tonight.

Storm!

Last night we were sitting quietly playing a game when someone threw baseballs at our motor home...hard! Wait...it's hail. Just a few very large hailstones hitting the metal top of our home really hard. Lightening and thunder started far away and moved steadily closer until the world lit up and the earth shook. We could feel the ground shake with the thunder! It lasted about an hour with rain falling and hail coming and going. Mindy cowered in the corner and shook. I thought about joining her but decided it would be best to put on a brave face for her benefit. It reminded me of storms in Albuquerque when I was a kid. The elevation is about the same here (5000 feet) and it feels like you are much closer to the storm. When it got light this morning we went out to see if there was damage (people up and down the road were doing the same thing) but there didn't seem to be any dings in the jeep or motor home. Dodged that bullet! Just a little excitement to add to our pleasure!

We're going to drive the needles highway this morning and meet Clem's friend, Rich at Crazy Horse this afternoon. I'll have pictures and tales this evening. Stay tuned.

Devil's Tower

Devil's Tower is definitely worth the drive to see! There was nothing for miles and then you could see it off in the distance. It would come into view and then disappear again, then appear even bigger than before. There were only a couple of touristy places that served lunch and drinks and souvies...much less commercial than most places we've been. We really enjoyed the drive there and back and enjoyed the buffalo burgers for lunch. Mindy liked hers too but doesn't think she will be chasing down any buffalo for a bite.

Happy Birthday to me!

Wonderful day! Went to the petrified forrest and learned a lot. There was a video, museum, walk through the scenic petrified forrest and rock shop. I had already decided I want a rock garden in the back yard but Bill seemed to think that hauling rocks from here wasn't a good idea, especially since the really pretty ones cost $60 or so for a small piece. Oh well.

We met Bob and Sandy from Huntsville for dinner last night. It was wonderful to see friends from home and have someone to share the free birthday cake and ice cream! I'm going to attach some pictures (hopefully) of the forrest and birthday dinner.

Oh, I forgot to tell you. There was a deer right outside our motor home when we woke up this morning! How cool is that?

More Sunday

We went for a drive through the Black Hills National Forrest and it was beautiful! A definite Miata drive but we did it in the Jeep. Mindy sat in the back with her ears flapping in the breeze! We saw old gold mines, winding creek, winding highway and sheer mountain walls. Amazing! Every little town is now loaded with casinos, which I think is a shame. Billboards tell you how you can win, win, win! We just wanted to enjoy the drive. They were busy though so I guess we are in the minority. Tomorrow we will venture further afield and see what else we can find.

Sunday

We changed camp sites this morning. Turns out the guy who recommended the more remote sites knew what he was talking about. We hadn't met Bubba, who loves NASCAR and set up his boom box outside so he (and everyone) could enjoy the race last night. Anyway the new site is awesome! There is a shower and laundry close by and no annoying neighbors. There are several other campers but we haven't seen anyone. That's okay. We went to the bar and grill here at the park for dinner and met some really nice people so we are having some social interaction.