Day 24 started in Spearfish where we jumped on highway 85/385 South. Sure, we could have taken I-90 and covered more miles but the area was beautiful so we took it slow.
Onto our first stop for the day.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
As far as American Icons go, this is one of the tops. The faces can be seen for miles sitting at an elevation over 5700ft. The faces are carved out of a solid Granite cliff face in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Each of the heads is 60ft tall and look out across the almost 1300 acre Memorial Park. It took sculptor Gutzom Borglum, and son Lincoln, 14 yrs from 1927 to 1941 to complete overseeing the project to completion.
From the parking lot the view is amazing!
As you continue closer, the corridor of State Flags pull your eyes from the hills. Under each state flag it has information about the Year of Statehood and other facts.
Once you get past the corridor of flags you come to an Amphitheater and viewing area of the sculptures. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was perfect outside.
As I've stated in past posts, we still didn't have a good camera at this point. Here are a couple shots from our phones and GoPro.
Back on the road and a very short drive down the road and we were at our next stop for the day. This one isn't as popular as the first one, but it should be!
Crazy Horse Memorial
In 1939 Korczak Ziolkowski came to the Black Hills to assist Borglum with Mount Rushmore. He was later contacted by Chief Standing Bear to commission a piece in tribute to the North American Indians.
The tribe has been working on it since 1947 and doesn't accept federal or state funding. All work is paid for by donations and admission costs. Here you can see the scale model of it completed along with the construction progress on the mountain in the background.
Currently this is the largest mountain carving in progress in the world. It's absolutely massive! You can't see them in this picture, but their are workers and equipment near the tip of the finger.
We walked around the visitors center and museum but don't have pictures. They ask that you don't take any pictures inside and out of respect we didn't.
After leaving we saw a brown sign and those always lead to something cool. Our third stop for the day was an unexpected one and neither of us had heard of it.
Wind Caves National Park
The Wind Caves became a National Park in 1903 and is one of our oldest parks. The park itself is enormous at nearly 29,000 acres and the caves are equally impressive. Mapping of 143 miles in the cave system puts this at the 3rd largest in the US and 7th in the world.
We didn't take the paid cave tour and instead walked around the visitor and interpretive center. The entrance of the cave isn't very impressive and I can't find any pictures we took of it.
Legend has it the caves here was breathing from the Earth. As the barometric pressure changes in the area it will either inhale or exhaust air from the cave entrance. It would have been very impressive to the Indians of the area long long ago. We didn't spend long here before getting on the road and onto our next stop.
Wall Drug
For hundreds of miles and several states we've been seeing signs for Wall Drug. We had no clue what it was from the signs. They covered everything from a museum to boots and worlds best rattlesnake jerky. Boy they weren't lying. This place is a city block!
In literally the middle of nowhere you'll find Wall Drug. They have it all and more. Inside is like it's own little town. They offer everything along with crazy statues and even a life sized stuffed Bison. Here are some pictures so you get an idea.
Such a cool place but it was getting late in the day and we had to find a hotel for the night. We drove as long as we could and found a spot just across the Missouri River in the town of Chamberlain. That would be where we end the day. Here is our route for Day 24.
Be sure to follow us on YouTube and Facebook for up to date travel. Thanks for following along on our journey and we hope to hear from you in the comments!
You found a saloon girl and your sweetie found a jackelope! How fun! 😁 So, did you try the Rattlesnake Jerkey...?
No we didn't. We do have a place local that sells it and I'd love to try it.
Finally got my trip planned, its only 10 days and I will be exhausted when I get back!!
We need to take a summer trip like this for a month or more to get in all the places we want to see.
!LUV !PIZZA
It was so much fun. Wake up everyday with no destination or plans and just cruise until we find something cool. Most of the stuff we'd never even heard of.
Honestly not sure I could do that, I have every hotel booked and day planned... Leave on a Friday after work, get back 10 days later Monday at like 8pm.... Full Send... If I had a month, I would likely plan 90% of it and just grind it out till no one had any fun.
😂 I would go crazy if I had everything planned out. I'd feel rushed like I had to be places at a certain time. Maybe I'll try planning a trip and see how it turns out.
Well the rest of the fam is not too excited to sleep in the truck or a seedy motel. So for us we have to plan a decent place to crash every night and not be sold out, that drives the planning. If I had a camper, or RV/VAN I wouldnt care as much.
Man I wish we could have slept in our truck. That would have saved us thousands. We did get to camp a couple days on the Ocean in Pismo Beach.
Whenever we got sick of driving we opened the BW app and typically found a spot within an hour drive. Their hot breakfast is fantastic!
Wow, that enormous horse will be an eye-capture once it's done. Thanks for sharing this all. God bless you and keep safe always.
Once it's complete it will be stunning. I can't wait to go back in a few years to see the progress! Thanks for stopping by @jonalyn2020
Surely it will. 🥰 And you're welcome @roadtrip.prepper.
Great view of the place. I love all of the images that you have shared and the one that catches my attention is the mountain carving. The time and effort that the people put into this masterpiece. Lovely indeed!
It's taken many years and many more to complete. Thank you for stopping to leave a comment @sabukidblog!
What a perfect place to visit for a vacation😍You are surely looking enjoyed your trip😊
It was a trip I'll never forget. Hopefully we'll be heading out on another trip soon. Thanks for dropping by to leave a comment @mitch18!
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