On Tuesday, Sept. 10, we drove on the back
roads of the Black Hills at dawn. No one minds this traffic jam! Animals in the foreground are pronghorn
antelope. We also saw wild burros, magpies,
western bluebirds, several prairie dog towns (with prairie dogs), and deer.
Travel Tip:
While sitting next to the car’s driver as he tries to
maneuver a narrow, rutted, dirt back road in the canyons of South Dakota where
a single false swerve of the wheel will hurtle you into the abyss, think twice
before asking him to stop and turn off the ignition so you can hear the bugling
calls of rutting elk.
Further north in the Black Hills, the monument to Chief Crazy Horse has been under
construction since 1948. It was designed
and begun by the sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, at the request of Lakota Chief Sitting Bear, in 1948 and the work is being continued
by some of Ziolkowski's children. When completed, it will dwarf Mt. Rushmore by a factor of nine. While the model
of this sculpture, other pieces of Ziolkowski’s work, and the large exhibit of
the photographs of Edward Curtis are fantastic, the concessions, displays and
carnival atmosphere are not. In the background you see the actual monument, of which only the face has been completed.
This photo of Ziolkowski’s sculpture of the Polish Eagle is
for Jane, her prize for best comments on our blog! Our other friends and family members with
Polish heritage might enjoy it, too.
A short drive from the Crazy Horse Monument is Mount Rushmore. The geography and monument speak for themselves.
We may do another post tomorrow morning if time allows, but will be going into Yellowstone National Park and may not have internet access for a few days. TTYL
Thank you for your wonderful photos, J&A! They are marvelous and a welcome boon for those of us toiling away at desks and computer screens. By the way, I loved the photo of Jim sitting at the picnic table with the laptop--the best of both worlds!
ReplyDeleteThe badlands and Black Hills are awesome, the wind cave is fantastic, and Mount Rushoomore impressive (I think my keyboard got carried away there). You seem to have had good weather so far, and I hope it continues; they have having mucho rain in Colorado. I'm dragging John over to see your pictures, as he claims that he can't find your blog by himself (don't worry, we'll get him there). Stephanie says hello!
Also, we respectfully request a photo of your fabulous tent! And dziekuje (that's thank you in Polish) for the Polish eagle. I didn't know that the sculptor of Crazy Horse was Polish, but those Poles are everywhere.