Day 17 - Gillette to Keystone
Thanks to yesterday’s pressing on, today’s drive was cut to
around 200 miles. Despite the low number
of miles we travelled in comparison to some of the past days we had driven, we
had enough activities planned to make the day relatively full.
The first stop on the itinerary was Devil’s Tower, about 60
miles from Gillette. Based on what
we’d previously observed throughout the trip, the drive and the scenery on the way wasn’t
anything more exciting or impressive that what we’d already seen, in fact, to
both of us it was not much more than rolling farmland. However, to Alex, this stretch of road was by far the most
exciting of the trip. After we
exited the interstate and travelled down the long two-lane road through the
farmland, Alex would exclaim “COWS!” or “Hey mom, look over there, more cows”
at a volume one would expect to hear at the sighting of Elvis or a UFO. Each sighting of another cow herd came
with another exclamation from Alex which startled everyone in the car. After about 15 minutes of sightings
(and equivalent number of pleadings to reduce the volume of his sightings to a more reasonable level), Alex declared his intent to be the official
wildlife spotter for the car. What
was interesting about his interest this particular day is that for all the
wildlife we say in Jasper, Banff, and Yellowstone National Parks, Alex would
hardly lift his head at the sighting of a bear, moose, elk, or sheep…but for
the cows, it appeared as if he were experiencing his highlight of the trip.
As we made it to Devil’s Tower (and past the dozens of cow
herds on the way), we took a brief walk up to the face and the requisite dozen
or so pictures. There’s
probably not another way to describe everything but saying it’s “unique.” We were all fascinated that this
structure used to lie at the base of a volcano millions of years ago. However, with many more hours on the
road left in front of us, we cut the trip a little short and didn’t do the
Tower walk as we heard some of our other fellow Coasties had done in their
travels through the park.
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| The family poses for a picture with Devil's Tower in the background |
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| A closer look at Devil's Tower from the base. |
After Devil’s Tower, we passed through a series of two-lane
roads and small towns in western Wyoming into South Dakota. On our way to Rushmore is the town of
Custer, which lies the site of the Crazy Horse monument. A 70+ year old mountainside rock
carving in progress, Crazy Horse is the gargantuan centerpiece of a future
center for Native American Education center. All that has been completed now is the head, and it looks
like it will be several more generations before the carving in complete. Nonetheless, stopping by the site was
interesting, which included the 30 or so minute movie describing the history of
the carving and the family behind it all.
Like Devils’ Tower, our stay at Crazy Horse was somewhat abbreviated
because of the next stop on our Griswold family tour…Mount Rushmore.
At about 2:30, we rolled into the Rushmore parking lot. Mount Rushmore had been number one on
both Ash & Alex’s wishlist as far as places to visit on our trip. As soon as we made it to the visitor
center, both signed up to complete the Junior Ranger booklets so they could
earn their Junior Ranger badges.
It was very cool to see both of them committed to answering all the
questions and racing around the park to uncover all the clues. We ended up taking the Presidential
Trail tour, which gave a great history of all four presidents on the
mountain. Ash & Alex were also
excited to learn that Thomas Jefferson lived in Charlottesville, and that he
still had his home there. We
promised them that we’d visit Monticello after we finished our trip!
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| Greg & the kids posing in front of Mount Rushmore |
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| Mount Rushmore from a little closer. |
After the trip, we took a brief trip in the Gift Shop only
to see the last surviving person who was involved in the carving of the
mountain signing books for tourists.
Although we didn’t get a copy, it was cool to see a piece of history in
front of our very eyes.
We left Mount Rushmore to visit the Alpine Slides about 2-3
miles away. We both rode once
while the kids each rode the slides twice…somewhat akin to a bobsled/luge ride,
only on a concrete track. After
the Alpine Slides, we headed over to the ___ restaurant, where we all dined on
some delicious prime rib. Again, this
trip was based on a recommendation by the Clarke’s, which, coincidentally, we
also recommend.
We’d heard that Mount Rushmore was also worth seeing at
night, so after dinner, we headed back to the mountain to see what it was all
about. As the sun started to fade
away over the horizon, the Park put on an evening lighting show which included
a brief movie and some patriotic music. It was all very well put together, and
gave everyone chllls to hear the audience come together signing the Star
Spangled Banner. At the conclusion
of the song, they called all members of the Armed Forces to come to the front
of the stage where the audience gave their appreciation. We were all especially proud when Greg
announced his name and service as one of the only 2 Coast Guard members (and
only active duty one) present of the 125+ armed forces members who came
forward.
Tomorrow: De Smet
Wildlife sightings: none
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