Mt. Rushmore and Black Hills

What a day it was!  Perfect weather today as we visited Mt. Rushmore National Memorial.  You can't help feel a bit patriotic when you're here.  We discovered that a vault exists here carved into the granite.  This 70 foot long chamber houses many engineering items, busts of famous Americans, and other artifacts about the United States placed here by the stone carver Gutzon Borglum.  It is not open to the public.  If you will recall the movie National Treasure II, Nicholas Cage found such a room at the end containing unspeakable riches belonging to America.  

After hiking up close to the President's "feet" we traveled on to Hill City for lunch at Alpine Inn.  Joy enjoyed her first and last glass of Rhubarb wine.  Following a great German lunch we headed down to the Needles Highway (SD87).  What a scenic ride with the tops off the Jeep.  My family came here more than once in my childhood.

After touring around Custer State Park we headed up several more quite scenic roads enjoying the wildlife.  At one point, Joy thought she saw a Bigfoot in the woods.  Turned out to be a trout fisherman.  We observed Big Horn Sheep, Buffalo, and a lone Antelope today.

Tomorrow we are headed for the Badlands National Park out East of Rapid City.