We started our day with a visit to the Crazy Horse Monument. It is a short distance from Mount Rushmore. When I lost saw this monument, which was thirty years ago, there was nothing but a hole in the mountain. You could tell where his head and arm would be. In that time, they have blasted away a lot of rock. You can see his face and the arm is better defined. The hole is still there and its 10 stories tall. The size of the monument dwarfs Mount Rushmore. In fact, Mount Rushmore could fit in Crazy Horse’s head.
The monument was started in 1948 by Corczak Ziolkowski. He had worked on Mount Rushmore and was commissioned to do Crazy Horse by Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota. He worked on the mountain alone for many years. His children eventually helped him. He and his wife had ten children. After he died, his wife and seven of his children have continued to work on the sculpture.
Miles thought Crazy Horse was much more impressive, but I don’t think he understands that Mount Rushmore was created in the same manner. He probably liked Crazy Horse more because the movie at the visitor center showed the many blasts that have occurred. Miles was hoping to see a blast while we were there. He wasn’t so lucky. We did see the 1/34th scale model of the sculpture that I saw so many years ago.
There was some decision on what are next stop should be. We could either go to Jewel Cave or Deadwood. My dad really wanted to go to Deadwood, so we went there. Deadwood is an old 1800s town that has tried to keep its charm. This is also the place where the assassin who killed Wild Bill Hickok was found and shot to death in a saloon.
We walked around town and Lisa tired to find a ring made of Black Hill Gold, but she didn’t find anything that she liked. I expected this since she really doesn’t like to wear jewelry. We ran across an old time photo store, and Lisa thought my mom and dad should have their picture. In particular, she wanted my dad in a bath tub and my mom dressed in bloomers pouring soap in the tub. My dad laughed but he really didn’t want to do it. I don’t blame him.
Our last stop of the day was Devils Tower Monument in Wyoming. This was the first monument in the US. Before reaching the visitor center, there was a field that had numerous prairie dogs. This just reinforced Samantha’s desire to have one as a pet. While we were at the visitor center, you could see a couple of climbers going up the tower. As this is a monument, the kids got the chance to be a Junior Ranger for Devils Tower. If you are counting, and Miles is, this is badge number four.
My mom decided to tell Miles and Samantha the significance of the tower, and that significance is that it is where the alien mother ship lands in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She tried to explain the movie and what happens at the tower. Since it didn’t have vampires that sparkle, Samantha didn’t care. Miles was intrigued once my mom stated talking about space ships. As we were leaving the clouds started to build around the tower and I stated that “we shouldn’t leave until the mother ship lands.” No one got it, and this is after my mom goes through the whole plot line for the movie. The clouds came in quickly. It was sunny when we arrived and clouds surrounded the tower when we left.
As we headed into Buffalo, Wyoming, a storm was about to hit the town. As we unhooked the trailers, the wind started to gust. Several times I had to duck for cover as the wind would gust even higher and start to blow debris everywhere. As the campground had several trees, I told Lisa to take the kids into the main building. I stayed and battened down the hatches. The wind at this time really kicked up and I had to take cover a couple more times. Several small branches from the trees went flying by me during a couple gusts. Once I got everything situated, I met everyone at the main building. To pass the time while we waited for the storm to blow over, we went and ate some pizza. After dinner, the wind had died down, but you could still here the thunder and see flashes of lightening. The campground was littered with down branches. Most of them were small and nothing that could cause any real damage.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment