Over the Hills and Through the High Plains: Day 4

Yesterday we were awakened early (5:20AM!) by the sun having already risen and in full-force over Badlands National Park.  We were able to sleep for a little bit longer, but eventually (6:20am) got up and broke down our tent and packed up the car.  We took the scenic route through the Badlands to experience the views throughout the rest of the park.  From then on, our day included large mountainous carvings, shorter and pointer landscapes, and a unique dining experience.

We took the winding road through the rest of the Badlands and stopped to experience a bit of the ridges created by the rain and winds.  We we reminded of Psalm 95 (the Venite) which we had said in morning prayer earlier that morning, which declares that God's hands molded the dry land.  Looking at the canyons, it was easy to imagine God reaching out with the power of the wind to mold the landscape which surrounded us.

On the way out of the park, we saw a whole colony of prairie dogs.  They were very close to the road and didn't seem to mind the cars going by.  It was fun hearing them call to one another and watching them scoot around.  We have since learned that these creatures are vermin and destroy pasture land with their colonies.  Horses will fall into the holes and break their legs.  Therefore, anyone can hunt prairie dogs without a license.  Who knew?

On our way back to I-90 we stopped at the highly anticipated Wall Drug, which we had seen advertised for 355 miles...since before we entered the state of South Dakota!  It is an amazing advertising campaign, all to lure travelers into a tourist trap.  We had been warned by a Trinity professor not to stop there, which made us want to stop and take a picture, just for him. We stopped long enough to stretch our legs and take a few pictures, before embarking on our journey up to Mount Rushmore. 

Our next stop was Mount Rushmore National Park, where we saw four dead presidents carved into a rock. We walked down the avenue of flags to the lookout point, took some pictures (including some with our heads in place of Lincoln and Washington, and Brian picking Washington's nose) and walked back to the car. It was very impressive, but certainly not a whole day trip.  Mandy's favorite view was on the road out, where we got a glimpse of Washington's profile.

We also visited the unfinished Crazy Horse Monument, which is a monument similar to Mount Rushmore except that this mountain will look like Crazy Horse, an American Indian chief, pointing off into the distance.  It is being built entirely with private funds and will eventually include a medical center and university for Native Americans.Crazy Horse monument will one day be the largest mountain carving in the world.  It was started by a man during the mid-1900s who wanted to honor the memory of the Native Americans, especially in light of all the treaties broken by the United States in dealing with the Native Americans.

After Crazy Horse, we started our long trek down through the Black Hills and into the high plains of northern and eastern Wyoming.  The drive was long, and included a lot of cattle pastures.

We met our friend Michael Glor in Cheyenne, who is the rector of St. Peter's Anglican Church.  We went out to Sanford's Pub and Grub Restaurant where we partook in a surprise appetizer: Rocky Mountain Oysters (a certain spherical part of a bull's anatomy).  More of a de-appetizer than an appetizer, really. They were...interesting.  We were glad that they were fried.  Not sure we would order them again, but they weren't as bad as they sound.






At the end of a long day we sank down to sleep in a comfortable bed, and are now ready for head out for another day.