Helicopter over Mount Mushmore

No, it’s not a typo; it’s what happens when you’re all excited about your upcoming road trip, and babble too fast. And then your spouse catches you and teases you about it, and from then on you can never call it anything else.

First stop today was the Pet Motel outside of Custer. We took the kids to day camp so we wouldn’t be limited by what we could do with them in the car. It was the first day of really clear, sunny weather since we arrived out here.

Today was also Joyce’s 65th birthday and to mark the occasion we went on a half-hour chopper ride over Crazy Horse, Rushmore and the Black Hills. Joyce is terrified of heights but loves helicopters, and this was the perfect day for it. It was just a little one, five seats, and the birthday girl sat in front with the pilot, leaving me the entire back seat to myself. Besides, she took all the pictures, so I just looked to my heart’s content without the camera in front of my face.



Tourist season hasn’t really gotten underway yet, so there was no waiting for our ride. As soon as we paid, we took off. The pad is right close to Crazy Horse, so the pilot left that for last and took us to Mushmore first. You come around the back and then whap! You’re up in their faces. They said we couldn’t get “close” but I have no idea what they meant because we were THERE. It was BIG.



And it looked nice. What can I say? Yeah, it doesn’t really belong there, but to think of the work that went into it! So we flew around enough for great pictures and then we went on to the Needles again, and we could see all the places we had been the day before, and all the little tiny people and cars that were there that day. It was very clear and just breath-taking. And because bison are big and stand around out in the open, you can see entire herds of them down in the park.






Finally, Crazy Horse. Right up in his face that’s ten times larger than Mushmore, and which, if anything should be carved there at all, at least belongs there.



I mean, what were we THINKING???? To carve white men on sacred native American land??? Hello? How could we (white Europeans) be so frickin’ oblivious? Manifest destiny, my ass. Anyway, Mushmore is there and short of dynamiting it, I guess there’s not much else we can do except respect the land and the first people and finish Crazy Horse.

So, the helicopter ride was great, and then we drove to Mushmore and got THAT whole story.

http://www.nps.gov/moru



Believe me, that’s screwed up, too, in its own way. The bottom line is, if you’re going to create a monument, first, don’t let the federal government get involved, and second, don’t die till you’re done. If necessary, get a double to stand around until the work is finished. I hope the guy building Sagrada Familia in Barcelona knows all this.

The Needles Highway/Crazy Horse

Once again, back into Custer State Park, but this time, for a geology lesson. The Needles Highway winds its way through incredible rock formations and is just Joyce’s favorite kind of road ever: steep, narrow, windy and very distracting, between the formations themselves and the usual abundance of wildlife. Partway through, I just had to quit driving because her constant shrieking was too stressful. When she drives and I ride, it’s a lot quieter. The only problem is, she hates driving. I do most of it unless I’m too tired or it’s dark. But when she carries on so much that it’s a distraction, I quit. She says she can’t help it. I don’t get it, because when she drives, I sleep unless we’re looking at scenery. The last time I was even IN an accident was 1993, and I was rear-ended. So I don’t know why she’s so terrified.
So at least when she drives, I get to see a bit more. This highway deserves its own link, so here it is.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1ZMC

And here are a few of our photos:







The ranger told us, on the way in, it takes about an hour and a half to drive the highway. Yeah, if you go at max speed and never stop to look at anything, but then, why bother? So I guess it took us four or five hours. Just like the Wildlife Loop, you want to stop and see what shows up. And there are all the stunning vistas, too. Joyce says, "If there's a pull-out, there must be some reason for it." Naturally we didn't miss a one, and several required at least a short hike to get the best views. Along the way we saw a lot of animals, but the cutest was the Least Chipmunk.






We never got to see mountain goats or bighorn sheep, though, so it's lucky we saw them in Bear Country.

On the way back to Custer, we stopped to see Crazy Horse. They have been working on it a really long time, and only the face is complete, but it's still impressive and in an ethno-historic way, makes a lot more sense than Mount Rushmore. By the time we got here

http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/

Joyce was wiped out from the driving and conked out. But as you'll learn in my next entry, she had the last laugh, even though she never went inside the Visitor Center. I did go in, and read all the info and saw the movie and subsequently wanted to mortgage our house and send them all our money. I settled for buying a bag of souvenirs instead.





Rushmore is impressive for reasons I promise to discuss soon, but this is better. So go to their online store and buy something, and promise yourself you'll visit if you ever get out to the Black Hills.