Day 2 ~ Mount Rushmore and more!

Sunday ~ June 19, 2011

It's a beautiful morning on day 2 in Sioux Falls at the Tower Campground. We just cleaned everything up including ourselves and off we go to Mount Rushmore.

Diana is looking particularly lovely this morning.
A couple of happy campers!!!

The next two lovely photos came about because Dave was driving and he's yelling back to Di get your camera, get your camera! Anyone who knows those two and the way Dave feels about Di always taking pictures, we thought this was pretty funny. Dave was getting into it I'd say.

Jim's a hummin' and a twizzlin' down the road. I really think he likes driving this thing!

We thought we'd see bears and wolves in cowboy country but looky here! A dinosaur lead by a small child. Kinda of biblical isn't it?

Oh, Oh, Oh, here are the cowboys! We really are in cowboy country, petrified cowboy country.

Diana mentioned that she heard that Wall Drug in Wall, SD, you had to see. So we did. That's all I am going to say about that....

We are now leaving Wall, SD, on our way to see Mount Rushmore! Oh, wait look, here it is! Gee, I think the guys thought this national wonder would be much larger!

Guess where we are, back at the pump. This is pain at the pump!

You can see the PAIN on Dave's face.

More scenery.
Trinket trash town on the way up to Mount Rushmore.

And now, dun, dun, dah!!! Mount Rushmore!! And oh a sighting of Tim McGraw, ah wait a minute it's our own Dave!

Fun facts: Did you know that Mount Rushmore was the brain child of some guy who wanted to bring tourism to the Black Hills. That's it. That's the reason.

It took 14 years to create, 500 men and there were no deaths. Pretty amazing when you think about. It's made of granite and they used dynamite to chisel it out.

More fun facts: Ohio was the 17th State admitted to the Union.

More and more fun facts: It will take 10,000 years for an inch to erode off the faces of these guys.

We have a flash mob dancer (someone forgot to tell him the flash mob moved to a different time and location.) We pretended we didn't know him.

Look, two fine cowboys.

Clouds that looked like you could reach up and touch them!

Jim's getting his head pinched off!

See... told you so!

We made our destination for day two. Hill City, SD and the Horsethief Campground.

We are relaxing and enjoying the late afternoon. Jim is getting our fire together to make dinner and then sit around the camp fire. Sound like a plan.

Dave is exploring next to our camp site. See the tree with the red paint on it?

See all the brown pine trees on the mountain? It dawned on us there is trouble in paradise. The "Pine Beetle" It is devasting the forests. Very sad to see.Dave cut one of the larvae from one of the infected trees shown above. They are about to emerge in 3 weeks to wreak more havoc.

Jim is sporting his new blue mosquito repeller. He's a mosquito magnet.

I am watching um, I'm not sure.

Dave and Jim are getting ready to raise our flag.
Happy pirate.

Aarrgghhhh!! Thar she is... the flag is a flyin'.

Day 3 - Morning Meeting.

It's cool, it's drizzling. What should we do? Let's go hiking in the Black Hills!

Even though it was grey, wet and chilly, we had a wonderful hike up and down hills. We walked with mostly pine needles underfoot. It was nice.

Where Dave is standing is pretty high up. You can't tell from the photo.

I'm holding up this tree.

Jim's holding that tree...
And Dave's in a hole.

SNAKES???

Dave's going to catapult Jim back to Ohio!

A poor dead beaver. May he rest in peace.

Back from our morning hike and Di and I made a lovely breakfast. But guess what, it is still raining. We decide to break camp and motor on. Sturgis, SD is where we are heading.

We started out into the gray blue yonder.... but hang on~ the sun does come out again, no worries!

To find out WHERE~ come back tomorrow!

Linking up with Communal Global~