Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore

I had always wanted to see Mount Rushmore, but first on our agenda was a trip to the Crazy Horse memorial, which has been under construction for over 65 years!  Willie had seen it on his trip out west with daughter Amber, back in 1994, and really noticed how much more had been done in the 20+ years since his last visit.  They are working with a very small crew, and it is done without any federal funding, so at times it seems that the work progresses at a snail's pace.  
But what a breathtaking undertaking.....the vision of one man, and carried on by his family.  Korzcak was a self-taught sculptor, and in addition to the monumental task of creating a memorial to Crazy Horse from a granite mountain, he created many other beautiful pieces, like this sculpture of two horses engaged in battle....

On the advice of our tour guide we took the $4 bus tour to the base of the mountain....we've decided we'll try to follow her advice from here on out because it was a great tour....very informative and we were able to get much closer to the monument.

Just look at that detail!

While we were there we enjoyed a walk through the museum....

....and around the grounds.  These Nature Gates were designed and made by Korzcak and his children.  And they were fairly glowing in the light of the sun on this beautiful day.

 Below is a scale version of what the memorial will look like when completed....

Impressive, isn't it?

I think this guy is pretty impressive, too!

Time to say goodbye to Crazy Horse and head on over Mt. Rushmore.  We made a stop along the way, only to be told to turn around....and this was our view!  Our first glimpse of Mt. Rushmore through the trees....

Such a beautiful view.....

After arriving at the Memorial, we walked through the entrance lined with state flags....

What a gorgeous day!! 

And what an impressive sight....

Do you know why these particular four presidents were chosen to be immortalized in this mountain?  Think about it and do some research....very interesting!

While we were walking the Presidents' Trail, we met a guy from Ukraine....it was really neat to talk with him about the changes there and to hear his thoughts on the rebellion, which he had gone back to participate in!  We are continually reminded that this is "a small world"!! 

Before we said farewell to Rushmore, we enjoyed some yummy lunch...hotdogs with bison chili and Willie even indulged in some vanilla ice cream made from the recipe Thomas Jefferson loved.  I must admit that I had a teeny, tiny taste...it was veeeery heavy on the vanilla, but good.

The rest of the day was ours to explore the area or to just relax.  We did a little of the relaxing things and then opted for a trip back to Rushmore for the presentation and lighting of the Memorial.  There were six of us in our van....and we had an awesome driver/guide who was a transplant from Los Angeles!  He drove us over the famed Iron Mountain Road, complete with pigtail turns, a twice-dead town and through tunnels which all faced Mt. Rushmore.  (The tunnels were laid out and built before the road was built for that very reason!)  We saw several deer and a fox on our drive and caught a glimpse of bear on the preserve.

The ranger gave a very good presentation - very patriotic and moving, but the most moving part was when he had any active or retired service members come to the stage.  He asked each one (80+) to give their rank, name and branch of service...after they did, he thanked each one individually!  That, along with the acappella singing of "America" and "The Star Spangled Banner", was the highlight of the evening.

A beautiful ending to a wonderful day....check back for more of our adventures!

P.S.  I guess I'm going to have to get my camera serviced....not too happy with quality of some of the shots, and it looks like I may have a scratch on my lens or mirror!  But, even so, the beauty that we experienced still shines through!