Black Hills

Several people recommended that if we were going to be in the Black Hills we should be sure and visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. It is a rock carving in progress. It is so large that the heads of the four presidents at Mt. Rushmore could fit inside of the head of Crazy Horse. It's creation began in the 1940s and so far all that is clearly definable is the head of Crazy Horse. Our bus driver guessed that it would take another 10-12 years to finish just the head of the horse Crazy Horse is riding. There are numerous museums, gifts shops and craft stalls to wander through. We spent a considerable amount of time there and just scratched the surface.

We didn't want to leave the Black Hills without resting near a lake so we went to Sylvan Lake. What a gorgeous spot. The last item on our agenda for the day was to go to Jewel Cave. We took a wrong turn out of Sylvan Lake and ended up at the Eye of the Needle, a rock formation, on the Needle's Highway. It was spectacular. Brett and I both jumped out of the car with our cameras.

Next to the Eye of the Needle is a tunnel carved into the rock that is about 8 feet wide and 12 feet high. While we were snapping pictures a bus went through the tunnel....very slowly. You could see no light around the vehicle. I started a round of applause when he made it through without mishap.

Having realized that we had made a wrong turn we retraced our route and headed for Jewel Cave. They regularly give two kinds of tours: Discovery tour which is completely handicap accessible and the Scenic Tour which travels 1.5 miles and involves 723 stairs. I knew I couldn't do that many steps but Brett was going to take the longer tour and I was going to do the "easy" tour. It is highly recommend that you call ahead and reserve a spot on the tour you want. As soon as I had any phone reception I did. All they had left was the "easy" tour at 4:25 p.m. We signed up. It was a tad bit disappointing to travel down to the cave in an elevator and then spend 20 minutes on a platform in a big cavern with no interesting rock formations. Oh well, it was 49 degrees down there and I did enjoy the weather in the cave.

My parents took the family camping in the Black Hills twice. I remember it as an idyllic experience. We camped next to a stream in a deserted campground; kept our watermelon cold by submerging it in the stream; and hiked up the hill to an old mine shaft. My mother required that we keep a trip journal for every family vacation we took. My siblings and I now have copies of all those journals. I am looking forward to going home and finding the ones that include the Black Hills. I am curious where we stayed and what we did.

I do not like to camp but I can see myself camping in the Black Hills with Bryan. Now that is saying something......