Today was a dream of a day! We only had 46 miles and less than 3,000 feet of climbing along with two incredible monuments; Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. We also had a later start, which meant we could get our stuff in order and do some much needed stretching/yoga! After fighting the wind for a few days, our backs were in desperate need!
I must say that I was very touched the first time I saw Crazy Horse in 2010 and again this time. I barely could contain my tears as I watched the 20 minute educational film on the history and the sculptor who said, "Never Forget Your Dreams". I remember this so vividly in 2010 and how it's impact reached the depths of what I was doing then on crossing the USA - a dream that took me over ten years to convince my employers to allow me to take my vacation all at once. Today, it made me realize that I have gotten a little lost in what my dreams are and whose dreams I'm living today. I definitely need to find my way again, I've had a few bumps along the way since 2010 and really need to reconnect my spirit with what my purpose is and how to get back on track. Ok, enough of the soul dump, but it really is unnerving when I think about it.
"When the legends die, the dreams end. When the dreams end, there is no more greatness.”
KORCZAK ZIOLKOWSKI / SCULPTOR
The route was fantastic, we had great 30-40mph down hills along with some quick hit climbs along the way. We rode with some wonderful people too - Lisa and Mary from Florida and Rob from Washington.
As we were leaving Custer, I spotted this sign. It's the "No More" motto that the Joyful Heart foundation puts out. We have these t-shirts and have donated to them as well. They really helped me and they help spread the word on Sexual Assault Awareness!
History of changes
We took a 25 minute bus tour to go around the side of Crazy Horse. Kim was the tour guide and was very good about providing the history. (https://crazyhorsememorial.org/) We also watched a 20 minute show on the lhistory, where I found myself with tears streaming down my face at thinking about the history, the tenacity of this family and of equality
They have a 15-20 people on the crews that work everyday, 12 months out of the year, they only get pulled if there is lightening. They have one working on the hand, the very far right section where the excavator is. He mentioned that they may be adding another crew to work on his hair as well.
Looking up you could see people there working.
Look at those bad a$$ Ford trucks, hauling rock away! (retro for sure!)
A shout out to my brother who works at Michigan Cat - that's a D-9 on that ridge in the red circle, this shows you the size and scale of this monument.
Some of the riders in front of Nature's Gate, 270 brass silhouettes of animals were created by famous Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, they symbolized his love of the Black Hills
Mount Rushmore - walking up to it
We are very blessed indeed!!
Vikki, Craig, Rob (WA), Lisa and Mary (FL)
We watched the 20 min. show narrated by Tom Brokaw, it was very interesting
Ok, on a lighter subject. As I was riding back to our room to clean up and prep for tomorrow, i got a slow flat, with non other than a d@mn piece of wire from a radial tire, the same ones that I was complaining about the other day. Sooooo.....lucky you get a picture of how tiny these things are. I had to pull it out with tweezers after searching for the culprit!
Another hearty dinner!!! We found a locally owned restaurant that made all there items by scratch, including these pork rinds! I learned that Craig is NOT a big fan of them, weird after all these years....learn something new everyday!
This is for sure a Wes Wilmer tribute to PAC eating!!! Please bear in mind there are only two of us and we split Oregon Berry Pie with ice cream too!!!! Sha-ZAM!!!
OH! And the All Blacks (New Zealand) hung on to the world cup Rugby championship!!!! This is them doing the haka after the win.
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