Rapid City, SD to Cloquet, MN – August 17-24, 2014

Sunday, August 17 was a full day for us in Rapid City, South Dakota. We arranged for a full 9 hours of touring the Black Hills with Stage Coach Tours, and what a fabulous time we had! We started with a cowboy breakfast at 8:30 at Fort Hays where the touring company is based. Three of the many buildings on site were built and used in the 1990 filming of “Dances with Wolves”, starring Kevin Costner. Although this wasn’t the site where the movie was filmed (it was actually at a private ranch about 16 miles south), the buildings were dismantled and moved to this location following production. There’s quite a bit of memorabilia from the movie in the buildings—quite cool! Thanks, Marvin and Shirley, for the recommendation! We loved it!

These 3 buildings were in the original "Dances with Wolves"
movie, dismantled and reassembled here.

Kevin received some his orders in this house during
the filming.

Fort Hays is a real old-time recreated western town!

And…I got my photo taken with Kevin! He wasn't much into giving autographs, though...ha!

There were 35 of us on the tour, and at about 9:00 we boarded the bus and headed south on highway 16.

Above: our tour bus.
Below: Our tour bus driver, Dan.

 Our first stop was Mount Rushmore, where we spent about 1½ hours.

Mount Rushmore

State historian, Doan Robinson, conceived of the idea of making a mountain carving in the Black Hills, in order to promote tourism in the area. Originally, the site selected was the Needles but sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln rejected that site due to the poor quality of the granite, as well as very strong opposition from Native American groups. They settled on the Mount Rushmore location we know today for basically two reasons: the quality of granite was exceptional, and the site had the advantage of facing southeast for maximum sun exposure. Robinson also wanted to feature western heroes like Lewis and Clark, Red Cloud and Buffalo Bill Cody, but again, Borglum resisted the idea deciding that the sculpture should have a more national focus. Borglum chose four presidents whose likenesses would be carved into the mountain. The initial concept was for each president to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding due to World War II forced construction to end in late October 1941.

Congress authorized the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission in March 1925; President Coolidge (president at the time) insisted that along with George Washington, two Republicans and one Democrat be portrayed. So, between October 4, 1927 and October 31, 1941, Borglum and 400 workers sculpted the colossal 60 foot high carvings of four U.S. presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, representing the first 130 years of American history. These four presidents were selected because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory. The entire cost of the project was US$989,992.32. For a project of such size, it is notable that no workers died during the carving.

It’s interesting to note that the image of Jefferson was originally intended to appear in the area at Washington’s right, but after the work was begun, the rock was found to be unsuitable, so the work on Jefferson’s figure was dynamited and a new figure was sculpted to Washington’s left.  Borglum worked on the project from 1927 to 1941, blasting over 800 million pounds of granite from the mountain in just 14 years. Dedication dates for each president was Washington, 1930, Jefferson, 1936, Lincoln, 1937, and Roosevelt, 1939.  The formal dedication for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial was in 1991. According to research, Mount Rushmore attracts close to 3 million visitors annually.

The entrance to the Memorial.

Walkway of state flags.

Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore

We walked the Presidential Walkway (about a mile and a half) to get different views of the presidents. It’s really not a trail, but rather a beautiful boardwalk with lots of stairs winding through trees and rocks, and up and down. It’s not for the faint of heart or for those needing wheel chair access.

George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

Teddy Roosevelt

Abraham Lincoln

Blast marks can be seen on the stone that tumbled
to the floor of the monument.

Gift shop

On the walk we stopped in at the sculptor’s studio where we saw plaster models and tools related to the sculpting process. Under Borglum’s direction, the studio was built in 1939.

As the memorial was supposed to look, but due to lack
of funding the sculpting stopped before the lower
bodies and hands could be completed.

There's a man-made opening called the Hall of Records, which appears behind Lincoln’s head, meant to house archived records relating to the Memorial. This model is located in the sculptor's studio.

As we were walking back to the visitor center we saw this guy, a groundhog peaking out at us from his hole beneath the walkway.

We then boarded the bus for a drive over the Iron Mountain Road (highway 16A) through Custer State Park which brought us through scenic tunnels (barely wide enough for the bus to get through--definitely NO RVs on this one!) and pigtail bridges. In the 1930s a new road, 17 miles long, was built from Custer State Park to Mount Rushmore In order to make this possible, a series of “pigtail (or corkscrew) bridges,” and one lane tunnels constructed to showcase several breathtaking views, one of Mount Rushmore framed in a granite tunnel.  Here they say it’s about the journey, not the destination—and it’s true! Along the road there are 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails, and 3 tunnels. The drive itself was beautiful, with vistas portraying Mount Rushmore and the beautiful Custer State Park.

One of the laminated bridges, made in Oregon, along
the Iron Mountain Road.

One of the "pigtails"

Mount Rushmore through one of the tunnels.

Tunnel vision-1.

One of the tour buses coming through one
of the tunnels--close encounters!

Tunnel vision-2.

Getting ready to enter the 3rd tunnel...can we make it?

Yes, we can!

Doesn't look quite so bad until you see it as we were creeping through! Our driver egged on the folks who were watching us trying to get through the tunnel--he put up a "Student Driver" sign in the front window!

These folks were at the end of the tunnel,
cheering us on and videotaping our journey
through the tunnel. They applauded when we made it!

One of the elk we saw thinks he’s a buffalo, and apparently he stays with this particular herd year-‘round. Crazy! Wonder what he'll do during rutting season...?

Am I an elk or am I a buffalo...?

Our next stop was at State Game Lodge, the presidential summer White House for President Calvin Coolidge in 1927. (He was at a press conference in Rapid City when he made his famous statement, “I do not choose to run,” which was the shortest press conference in history!) President Eisenhower also stayed here in 1953 during one of his working vacations, when he came to Rapid City to rename the Rapid City Airforce Base to Ellsworth Airforce Base. Surrounded by ponderosa pines, oak, birch and aspen trees, the stone and wood lodge was built in 1920 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. We were told there’s excellent trout fishing in the Grace Coolidge Creek which winds through the area. Oh, and we did eat lunch here: a tasty buffalo burger! Yum!

After lunch we proceeded down the Needles Highway, featuring 14 miles of finger-like granite spires. The cathedral spires, at 7,242 feet, are the most popular feature of Custer State Park, sitting in the shadow of Harney Peak, the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and the Swiss Alps. Along the road we saw deer, elk and lots of buffalo.

The"Eye of the Needle" 

The old lodge

Sylvan Lake was our next stop, a man-made lake located at the bottom of Harney Peak. Although we didn’t see it, the Sylvan Lake Hotel, built in 1892, was the finest hotel in the Black Hills. Sadly, it burned to the ground in 1935 and was replaced with a new lodge in 1937. (Frank Lloyd Wright helped decide where to place the new lodge). Nevertheless, the lake is a beautiful and a quiet respite from the busyness of life, as it allows only non-motorized boating and non-electric camping in the area. Magnificent rock formations line the shore, and it was the perfect setting for wedding taking place while we were there.

Crazy Horse

As our day winds down, we head next to Crazy Horse Mountain and Memorial.  The idea of a mountain carving came into being when Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear, after learning of sculptor Ziolkowski and his sculpture “PADEREWSKI: Study of an Immortal” won first price by popular vote at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Chief Standing Bear came to sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and said to him, “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too.” Sioux Chief Crazy Horse, when asked, “Where are your lands now,” pointed and said: “My lands are where my dead are buried.”

“You are never too old to set another goal, or dream a new dream.” C.S. Lewis. 

Thus, began the Crazy Horse Mountain and Memorial.

Korczak Kiolkowski was born in Boston of Polish decent, and orphaned at age 1, growing up in foster homes. He was completely self-taught and never took a formal lesson in art, sculpture, architecture or engineering. He arrived in the Black Hills in 1947, beginning work on Crazy Horse when he was already 40 years old, and had just $147 to his name. A strong believer in the free enterprise system, he felt Crazy Horse should be built by the interested public and not the taxpayer. Twice he turned down offers of federal funding. He also knew that the project was larger than any one person’s lifetime and left detailed plans to be used with his scale models to continue the project at his demise. He died in 1982.

In 1948 the first steps were taken by Kiolkowski and Chief Standing Bear to create their dream, the Crazy Horse Memorial, a massive carving of the chief on horseback surveying his lands. Every day since that day in June 1948, the Kiolkowsky family has continued to chip away (or blasting away) at the rock. The Memorial’s mission is to honor the culture, tradition and living heritage of North American Indians. Today, Crazy Horse’s face and outstretched arm have taken shape. Since the dedication of Crazy Horse in 1998, the work has been focused on blocking out the horse’s head.

A diarama of what the Crazy Horse Memorial will be
when it's finished.

A bronze bust of Crazy Horse

The Prayer To The Great Spirit in beadwork

The following photos were taken inside the Indian Museum of North America, Cultural Center and the Sculptor's Studio-Home and Workshop. The museums were huge, so we didn't include all the photos

Korczak Kiolkowski

Ruth Kiolkowski

Photo of the consecreation of Kiolkowski's tomb at Crazy Horse

An example of the beautiful beadwork used in the horses' adornments.

Moosehide and beaded moccasins

Below: a beaded woman's trade cloth dress adorned with
elk teeth and sequins. The more elk teeth and sequins,
the more revered she would be among the women of the
tribe, as this means her husband can really provide for her.

The Crazy Horse Memorial mountain crew uses precision explosive engineering to carefully and safely remove and shape the rock. Mountain carvers recently mapped out their future plans by painting the outline of Crazy Horse’s extended hand on the mountain, as well as the horse’s head. The hand will be supported by the mane on top of the horse’s head, which when completed will be 219 feet tall. Talk about huge! The hand will be about 35 feet tall, and the extended left index finger will be nearly 28 feet long. Reference points transferred from models and checked with computer-generated surveying were used to paint the mountain. No guess work here!

A network of about a dozen “benches” are being cut out around the horse’s head, serving to block out the head to within 20 feet of the final surface of the head, providing access roads for the heavy equipment being used to drill holes for explosives and to remove loose rock after each blast. In 1987 a 60-foot long measuring boom was fixed to the top of Crazy Horse’s head to direct the work on the face. A plumb bob suspended from that boom was used to transfer numbers from the pointing system on the 1/34^th scale model of Crazy Horse’s face.  When it’s time to craft the hand, a measuring boom similar to the one used to create the nearly 90-foot tall carved face of Crazy Horse will be built and installed at the end of the extended arm.

There is no completion date in sight for completing Crazy Horse. Due to several factors (weather, financing, and the challenges of mountain engineering). When Korczak Kiolkowsky died in 1982, his parting words to his wife were, “You must work on the mountain—but go slowly so you do it right.” The Crazy Horse Memorial is a project that will never end, even after the mountain carving is complete. The Kiolkowski family works diligently to create the world’s largest mountain sculpture, a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse and his culture. The family (7 of the 10 children are involved in the Memorial, as are several grandchildren) is dedicated to making careful and steady progress on all of the Memorial’s humanitarian goals, including educational and cultural programming to encourage harmony and reconciliation among all people and nations; acting as a repository for Native American artifacts, arts and crafts through the INDIAN MUSEUM OF NORTH AMERICA® and the NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL & CULTURAL CENTER®; by establishing and operating the INDIAN UNIVERSITY OF NORTH AMERICA®; and when practical and possible, a medical training center for American Indians.

We were impressed and awed by the Memorial’s expansive grounds and vision. It’s definitely worth a trip to Crazy Horse if you’re in the area to see Mount Rushmore.

Finally on our way back to Fort Hays, we drove through Keystone, Custer City, and Hill City—all quaint western and mining towns, still going strong, thanks to tourism in the area. We arrived to take part in a real ol’ chuckwagon dinner served on tin plates, complete with “Sliced Beef simmered in mild BBQ sauce, Baked Chicken, Chuckwagon Potatoes, Western Baked Beans, Ranch Biscuits & Honey, Chunky Applesauce, Old-fashioned Spice Cake, Cowboy Coffee or Tenderfoot Lemonade.” Yum-yum! This was followed by a cowboy musical show brought to us by “The Wranglers”, a local band, and Magic Mark, a magician from the area. As they said, “You’ll be in for a foot stompin’, belly shaken’, good time!” And we were! The Wranglers sang everything from country to gospel to rock 'n' roll. Good stuff!

The Wranglers sang one of my favorites: "Wagon Wheel,"written by Bob Dylan (from my home state of Minnesota) and most recently recorded by Darius Rucker.

Whew! We were pretty tired by the time we arrived back the park at 8:45 that night. What a day!

Monday, as I wrote last week’s blog, Dick walked around the RV park taking more photos. We had an unexpected power failure lasting about ½ hour during this time. Later in the day we did preliminary packing for our departure Tuesday, to head to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for our 1-night stay—this time at Cracker Barrel (they have a quieter parking lot than Walmart, and their food’s better, too--ha!)

We were on the road Tuesday morning by about 10 a.m. (We didn’t want to get to Cracker Barrel too early…) It was a pretty easy drive on I-90, but it still took us about 7½ hours, with one stop. I had packed sandwiches, etc., so we could easily eat on the road.

At dinner that evening (at Cracker Barrel), we met Nicki and her 3-month old daughter Piper. Piper was born with a malignant tumor on her heart, so she’s already endured one heart surgery during which the surgeons were able to remove the tumor, thankfully. They’re carefully monitoring Piper’s tumor markers; Nicki and her husband opted to forego chemo at this point. Apparently, chemo at Piper’s young age would severely damage her hearing to where she might not have hearing at all. We ask that you pray fervently for Piper and her family; that Piper would continue to grow healthy and strong, with no more complications. Prayer chains have been going on all across the country for Piper, and we’d like them to continue. Nicki promised to keep us posted on Piper’s progress. Thanks.

After dinner, since we had no electricity for A/C (it was 80° outside) or TV, we walked next door to the movie theater to see “The Giver.” Starring Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep, it’s the story of a young boy in a seemingly perfect community, without pain, suffering, war, differences or choices. He is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the “real” world. While some of you may like the movie, it didn’t do much for us.

That night we experienced a thunder storm and rain, but thankfully it cooled down enough for us to sleep in relative comfort.

After a wonderful breakfast Wednesday morning—at Cracker Barrel!—we were on the road at 8:15 a.m., heading to Cloquet, Minnesota, just about 350 miles away. Again, the drive was uneventful, and with the exception of having to drive through the middle of St. Cloud on Highway 23, and some construction and rough road in places, we made it in a little over 7 hours. Along the drive we spotted several deer (does with spotted fawns), which always puts a smile on our faces.

MacKenzie and Mom in the gardens at the care center.

After getting the camper situated on the street in front of my mom’s house, we drove to Carlton to see her, where she’s been living in the InterFaith Care Center for the past several months. She’s just not able to live on her own any more. She was happy to see us, and we spent almost an hour with her before her dinner time. That night my brother Ron and his wife Debby arrived from Roseau, Minnesota, where he is a family doctor. They were able to be with us until Sunday, when they needed to get back home, about 6½ hours away.

Thursday we had a meeting at the care center to discuss Mom’s care and any issues. We visited with Mom afterward, when we hung pictures in her room to make it feel more like home. It’s in the plans to move her to their memory care area, where she’ll have more interaction with staff, a smaller and more defined area to move around in. It’s on a space available basis, but she’s at the top of the list.

That evening we watched “The Book Thief.” Highly recommended! If you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s the story of young Leisel, who while being subjected to the horrors of World War II, finds solace in stealing--she says "borrowing"--books from a local Nazi officer. She learns to read and write during this time, and helps to shelter a Jewish refugee in the basement of the home she shares with her adoptive parents.

Friday we visited with Mom again, in the morning (Ron and Debby went in the afternoon). Dick and I picked up niece MacKenzie so she could spend the afternoon with us and help me make cookies before she went to play soccer. MacKenzie has grown about 4" since we saw her last year. She now looks down on me... MacKenzie made the Jr. Varsity soccer team, so she’s quite busy with practice and games. In a rousing game, she scored the only goal bringing her team to victory against Marshall, a team from Duluth. Woot-woot! After the game they participated in the ice bucket challenge, being challenged by the Varsity soccer team. 

MacKenzie, up front, #13 for Cloquet.

Then, it was time for all of us to scarf down pizza! Ron, Debby, MacKenzie, her mom, Karen, and dad, Rich, Dick and I devoured most of 2 large pizzas. Yum-yum! Ron and Debby had purchased a Dairy Queen ice cream cake to celebrate her birthday (August) and mine (September) so we finished that off, too! YUM-YUM!!

L to R: Debby and Ron, Rich, MacKenzie and Karen

My brother Rich, daughter MacKenzie and his wife Karen.

After visiting with Mom on Saturday, Debby and I set about to clear out some of the stuff in the closets and cupboards in her home. What a lot of stuff! That evening we watched “Heaven is for Real.” Based on a true story, a small-town father (who is also a minister) must find the courage and conviction to share his son’s extraordinary, life-changing and near death experience during surgery with his congregation, town and the world. Son Colton recounts details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence, speaking matter-of-factly about things that he couldn’t possibly know.  Highly recommended!

Sunday we attended Mom’s church, and where my family attended when I was living at home, Grace Baptist Church. Then, lunch at Arby’s before Ron and Debby left for home. We spent time with Mom that afternoon, bringing her out to the care center’s garden; she really seemed to enjoy that little trip outside in the fresh air. The weather was humid and mostly cloudy, but occasionally the sun would peak out. The  1/4 acre garden is lovely, with beautiful flowers and shrubbery, and a few toads hopping about. We’ll be bringing Mom outside on our visits, as weather permits. And, if the weather doesn't cooperate, Mom can look out at the garden through her bedroom window. We'll post photos next week of the garden and Mom.

That night we had a terrific lightning storm, and a downpour, with tornado watches and warnings for about 5 hours (no damage in our area but lots of rain). Everything is certainly green as a result!

That’s it for this week, folks. Thanks for coming along our journey. There probably won’t be much to report for the next 3 weeks or so, as we won’t be doing much traveling but I’ll still stay in touch, so don’t give up!

Hugs ‘n’ love,

RJ and Gail