Mount Rushmore and the Wind Caves were our aim today, but what a day!
We set off amid bikers from Keystone and headed for Mount Rushmore. I've always wanted to see it since seeing 'North by NorthWest' which is one of my all time favourite films.
It was only a couple of miles from Keystone and we were soon there. We parked in the parking ramp which was deserted; well it was Sunday. The sight that greets one even from the parking ramp is quite awe inspiring. The approach is up through an avenue with all the states' flags; this does include our own fair Union flag – it forms part of the flag of Hawaii! (Check it out!) We picked up an audio tour wand for a mere 5 dollars, £2.50; the only downside was the rather over the top (to us) commentary extolling the virtues of the great America constitution. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful document, it's just the jingoistic attitude that sometimes comes across in commentaries. Walking along the avenue one can look up and see the four faces carved from the granite rock face. It is a staggering achievement and well worth the visit. Walking around one did hear a Ranger doing the bit about how far sighted and wonderful the founding fathers were forgetting to point out that Benjamin Franklin would have happily stayed under the British monarchy and that the Constitution was only meant to apply those of good British stock and not the natives but those things tend to be forgotten and it wasn't really an appropriate time to point out the errors in her speech or later on in the exhibition hall to point out the really big errors in the history tableau
The bickering and arguments before, during and after it had been built seem no different if they had been doing it today. The amount of rock removed and the completed effect are genuinely staggering and the effect is absolutely amazing.
I have to write that I was disappointed by one thing in particular; the concession area where Eva Marie shots Cary Grant has gone and been replaced by a modern equivalent in the 1990s. I could imagine the end of the film up on the sculptures even though it was filmed in a studio.
After being there for three hours we decided to move on to the Wind Caves. A pleasant drive including more bikers on the move.
We pulled in to the car park and went in. My partner bought two tickets for 'The Garden of Eden' tour.
We went along to the lift(!) that would take us down into the cave system. There was eight of us in the little party that headed below ground. Our guide, a ranger, was excellent. As we attempted to leave the reception area at the bottom we found out why they were called wind caves. There was a strong wind that disappeared as we entered the caves. It was all due to the difference in pressure and there was no real wind.
What greeted us an amazing series of caves with incredible rock formations caused by water evaporating and leeching the minerals through the limestone. There were thin, delicate formations called boxes caused by the original limestone being shattered, the minerals filling the gaps and then the limestone gradually being eroded leaving the in-fill as delicate sheets of minerals.
Our guide showed us what it was like in the early 20th century down there by turning off the electric lights and using only a candle lamp. It was truly amazing particularly when she blew the candle out too. Where was the light that one sees on television when people are trapped underground?
We went through a series of caves, each one truly different to the others. The number of possible exits from each chamber was frightening if one didn't know the way out or there was a concrete path beneath ones feet. After being given a fascinating tour we ascended to ground level where, unlike the cave, it was warm and brilliantly sunny.
We had a coffee there and started on the 90 mile drive to Lusk. The number of bikers decreased rapidly as we headed south. We saw plenty of prairie dogs, a dead porcupine unfortunately, and several other unidentified creatures as well as missing several birds intent on committing suicide, or should that be avaricide or birdicide? After an hour and a half we hit Lusk. A small town with a rail track running through it which, even now, we can hear the train hooting.
We eventually found a Subway and a liquor store – they do like putting the bottles of drink in brown paper bags. We had a pizza each, a salad and a bottle of red wine.
After this I went to the reception area to make better use of the wireless internet. On the way back I fell into conversation with our 'neighbours' a really nice, ordinary couple, Steve and Pat. They had been married for 29 years(!) which must be approaching a record in the USA. They were from Pueblo in Colorado. A nicer and more ordinary American couple I have yet to meet. I suppose that we must have spent well over an hour 'chewing the fat' as they say over here. The attitudes outlook were not what one may be lead to believe from television.
Anyway it's time to sign off for today. Tomorrow we complete the last part of this journey; back to Denver for a couple of days via Fort Laramie.
