The Rapid City area of South Dakota has so much to see. Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, Bad Lands and so much more. At the top of my list is Mount Rushmore. This is an amazing monument to the American spirit and what made this country great. I was humbled by its majesty and purpose. I think it should be required of our elected officials that are currently running our country to pay a visit to this site to understand the principles that built this amazing country. If you haven’t been here, do try to go.
Mt Rushmore
B&Z at Mt Rushmore
Washington & Lincoln
Then it was off to see the Crazy Horse Monument. Like Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse celebrates the hero’s of the Native Americans. The interesting part about this monument is that it is privately run and funded. It was done this way so the US Government could not control it and sensor what was displayed. It was sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski and to this day his family still works and helps manage the foundation that runs the monument. Due to the fact that it is publicly funded, there is no completion date on the monument. The museum is very well done.
Crazy Horse
When completed
Crazy Horse
The best part was a presentation by a Lakota woman about her ancestry and what it is like being Lakota. She is an amazing story teller and dancer. Yes Native Americans are different from us, but I am a better person from getting to know this Lakota woman. She welcomed me into her family.
Welcomed into her Lakota family.
Lakota Dancer
On the way back to the house from Crazy Horse we drove through Custer State Park.
Herd of Bison
Then a few days later we headed to the Badlands as we were told this was a don’t miss sight to see. It was a little bit of a drive, but well worth it. The pictures do not do justice what we saw with our eyes. This is amazing landscape that seems to go on forever. Just wish we could do a bit more hiking, but at 104 degrees it was to hot for much of that.
Entering the Badlands
Amazing landscapes.
More Badlands
Big Horn
Gotta love those badlands 😉