Custer, South Dakota..Rated "R"

Parking Lot at Crazy Horse Memorial

 

Crazy Horse Memorial Sculpture in progress

Likeness when sculpture is completed

Inscription that will be included in sculpture

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

Those "pesky happy campers" again

Side view of Washington when leaving Mt. Rushmore

Downtown Custer, South Dakota during Sturgis Rally

Downtown Deadwood, South Dakota during Sturgis Rally

Eye candy for Mike

Site of Wild Bill Hickocks demise

Diamond Lil's  Restaurant

More eye candy for Mike 

We arrived in Custer, South Dakota on August 8 and were thankful we made reservations.  This was smack in the middle of Sturgis Rally week.  We drove into Custer for dinner and there were Bike's everywhere!  The town accommodates by roping off the middle of the street for the bikers to park.  After having dinner at a pub, we stopped for ice cream.  They were advertising homemade pie and I got a piece of rubarb.  It was delicious.  Much better than Mike's plain ole Butter Pecan ice cream.  He even thought so (I shared).  The next day we traveled a few miles to the Crazy Horse Memorial. 

Crazy Horse Memorial was dedicated on June 3, 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear.  Ziolkowski started carving with a sledge hammer, single-jack drill bit and a box of dynamite.  He built a set of 700+ steps to the top of the mountain.  He spent the next 36 years of his life blasting away 7,400,000 tons of granite to rough out the entire figure.  He died in 1982, but his family continues the task.  He had 10 children and 7 continue to work at the site.  His wife, who is now 84, oversees everything.  They have refused any government funding.  It is being funded entirely by donations and monies made at the visitors complex.  People may think that $10 per person is a lot to enter the complex, especially when you can see the sculpture from the road, but the entrance fee is worth it for all the information and history that they provide with a video and museum.  It is the largest sculpture in the world.   We were sure impressed.  I would love to see it finished, but it won't happen in my lifetime. 

After visiting Crazy Horse, we drove over to Mount Rushmore.  They are about 20 minutes away from each other.  The drive up the mountain was beautiful.  The granite rocks were pillars and glistened in the sun.  Mount Rushmore had a lot of history too.  It was the idea of historian Doan Robinson, who wanted the carving of a likeness of 4 famous people in order to promote tourism.  He chose famous names from the west such as Buffalo Bill Cody and 3 others I can't remember.   The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum refused, stating it should be a memorial for the whole country.  He chose Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson and Roosevelt.  Work began in 1927. After Borglum's death in 1941, his son completed the construction.  Mount Rushmore is still controversal among Native Americans because the US seized the area from the Lakota tribe after it was granted to the tribe in perpetuity. Although impressive, it is much smaller than the Crazy Horse memorial.  I think I would have been more impressed if we had seen it first!

The next day we decided to drive over to Deadwood.  There were literally 1000's of motorcycles on the road.  When we arrived in Deadwood, we found the town overtaken by bikers.  I expected a lot of rowdyness, but nothing!   Well, almost nothing.   As you can see by the pictures, we saw a couple of "sights".  I expect the night was much more lively!  We had lunch at Diamond Lil's.  It's a restaurant that was bought and renovated by Kevin Costner.  He has a lot of movie pictures and clothing on display.  Dances with Wolves was filmed in this area. The downtown is pretty much out of an old west setting.  After strolling into a few stores, we made it to the car and started back to the campground.  On the way we stopped at Red Ass Winery and sampled some of their wine.  It was better than the name suggests. 

This was the last stop on our list of must sees as we traveled across the USA. It has been a wonderful experience and we know there is alot more to see but for now we're done. We're making a beeline for the east where we will spend the next couple of months seeing doctors, dentists and optometrists. We will hang out mostly in Marietta, OH before heading back to Florida for the winter. This will probably be the last post you will see until we begin meandering again. Love to all who have been faithfully following our journey.   Mike and Charlotte (Those Pesky Happy Campers and Meandering Mountaineers)

Billings, Montana - Great Friends, Great Food, Gratious Hopitality

What was left of our molten chocolate cake at "The Rex" restaurant in Billings, Montana

                                Our good friends, Lonnie and Peggy Casto, of Williamstown, WV

 Our wonderful hosts in Billings,Jamie and Tammy Casto,  who so kindly let us park our home in their driveway.

 Preparing to launch the raft for some fishing and floating down Bear Trap Canyon on the Madison River.

  

                       Mike trying his hand at Fly fishing for the first time.  He caught a fish!

Jamie going "shoo fishie, fishie" on his first catch. 

A view down the Bear Trap Canyon

 

Another view of the canyon.

Jamie and his friend, Brian working down the "Kitchen Sink" rapid.

Another shot of Jamie and Brian in the Class 5 rapid.

They made it!!

A view of the evening sky outside our RV

    

Having dinner served to us at "The Resort"

Jamie, one of the chefs and our host

On the veranda, our last evening in Billings

We left Cody, Wyoming to meander to Billings, Montana for a rendevous with our friends from home.  Our first night was in a campground where we got caught up on laundry, etc. and Mike was able to give our home a much needed washing.  The next day we were off to meet our friends, Lonnie and Peggy Casto.  They were visiting with Lonnie's son and family in Billings and his son and wife, Tammy,  kindly welcomed us to park our home on their property.  They have a beautiful home with 10 surrounding acres.  After we settled in, Mike, Lonnie, Jamie and Tammy went to play a round of golf.  Peggy and I played with the granddaughters, Maddie and Ella, and then went to do a little shopping.  That evening Jamie and Tammy introduced us to The Rex restaurant in Billings where we had a wonderful dinner.  The next day was much the same with Peggy and I hanging out with the girls at the horse barn.  That evening Jamie and Tammy prepared our dinner.  They are wonderful cooks.    The next day took us to Bozeman, Montana,booked a room, the guys played golf and Peggy and I wondered around the town.  We found a really nice quilt shop to brouse, sampled some chocolates in another shop and had a snack at an outside cafe.  We got up early the next morning to travel to the Bear Trap canyon for some rafting and fishing.  We met up with Jamie and his friend, Brian, hopped in the truck and away we went.   Lonnie introduced  Mike to fly fishing.  I only caught one fish.  Mike caught a few, but the rest caught many!  We were catching and releasing trout of several different species.  The Madison river was beautiful with the canyons and white water. Jamie and Brian rode the Class Five rapid while we safely watched from the riverbank.  They had a perfect ride.  It was a beautiful day and we very much appreciate Jamie and Brian for taking us.  Did I mention it was 38 degrees when we started on the river?   The next day was spent relaxing, doing a little shopping and then we were treated to another gourmet meal prepared by Jamie and Tammy.  Their kitchen, as you can see by the pictures, is set up so you can watch the cooks.  I felt like we were on a TV show.  You can tell they enjoy cooking and are VERY good at it.  We loved  every bite. No wonder Peggy calls it "The Resort".  Thank you for a wonderful visit Jamie and Tammy.  The next day we kind of reluctantly pulled out to head to Custer, South Dakota. 

Cody, Wyoming

My first ever rodeo. Cody presents this rodeo every

night except Sunday.  

Interesting round rock formation just south of Cody.

Looking across the lake that provides water to Cody.

Glacier fed. 

Arriving in Old Town, Cody, WY

Looking down the street "Old Town Cody,WY" 

One of the first "semis"... 

Hole In The Wall Cabin 

Wish these could tell their stories.....

The Sundance Kid and friends bellied up to this bar.

Final resting place of John Jeramiah "Liver Eating" Johnston

One of my heroes!!

Statue of Buffalo Bill Cody out in front

of a huge historical center.

We arrived in Cody, Wyoming on Monday July, 23 and had to make a beeline to a local RV repair shop to have our air conditioning fixed. It was 90+ degrees with a similar forecast so we had to get this job done. Turned out to be a fried wire and we were up and headed to the campground in about an hour and a half. Cody is a neat clean town we enjoyed staying in very much.  I went to my first rodeo which offered a little more excitement than we'd really bargained for. We were sitting in the metal grandstands clear across the arena from the car about a half hour into the show when a thunderstorm blew up the canyon. Lightening everywhere! The show went on the whole time and although providing anxious moments we saw it through to completion. We met another couple from FL in the campground, swapped stories and went to dinner together. I golfed and Charlotte found a nice quilt shop to investigate. We also toured the "Old Town"one day and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center one day. Interesting old buildings and gravesites in "Old Town" giving a glimpse into the west of yesteryear. The Buffalo Bill Historical Center is an all day event if you can handle it. Full of history. We both felt like we could revisit Cody someday. Just felt good. Said  goodbyes to our  new friends from FL on Monday, July 30 and headed to Billings, Montana. Oh, forgot to mention. Charlottes bed went flat again, springing a pin size hole, leaving her practically bedless again. Called the company and had a replacement sent to our next destination.

Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole

Traveling south into Yellowstone National Park.

The Yellowstone River

Our first upclose look at the thermal activity

that is prevalent throughout the park. Just hoping

the whole place doesn't errupt.

Picnicing in Yellowstone

This guy patiently waited in a tree about 30 yds away

while we had our lunch. The minute we left the table

he was on it like a fly on ****

Hot Spring. Super heated water(up to 400 degrees F

at its depth) rises, then cools, then sinks again to be

super heated and rise again. On going natural

circulation. Don't want to stick your piggys in there!!!

Beautifully colored landscape.Compliments of

mother nature.

Just makes ya want to take a bath, huh?

Ok, what happens if Old Faithful isn't faithful??

A lot of unhappy people, I bet. But "she" was

faithful in this day.

Old Faithful teasing everyone.

Tada!!! "She" remained faithful......

One last shot before we ran to the car

to beat the traffic and head further south.

Grand Tetons. Can't get enough of these views.

I think I could sit and look at this scene all day. As

the sun and the clouds move it is forever changing.

Home, home on the range. Open range at that.

Almost to Jackson Hole.

One of the famous elk antler arches located on all

four corners of this park in downtown Jackson, WY

A reflection back to the old west.

A view down one of the main streets from balcony

of restaurant where we dined outside.

Pretty good sized herd.

They decide it was time to show the tourists just who's

park this really is.

What you lookin at??

Ho Hum. A couple of little bucks crossing the road.

Late afternoon view of the Tetons.

One of a variety of scenes you experience as you pass

through Yellowstone

Lake Yellowstone

Couple of elk cows relaxing by the lake.

This is a view from our campground on the Yellowstone River

Ah, Montana.

Arrived at the campground on the Yellowstone River about 18 miles south of Livingston last Monday afternoon. Journeyed south on Tuesday all the way through Yellowstone National Park to Jackson, WY and back. Now that was a long but enjoyable trip. I wanted Charlotte to see Jackson and it seemed like once we got to the middle of the park I hated not to go on. Needless to say, we were both wore out from that trip. So much so, we didn't go back into the park at all the rest of our stay. The setting at the campground was so peaceful we rarely left the rest of the week. Charlotte did venture into the grocery store in Livingston and found a quilt shop to investigate. We also found a nice restaurant in Livingston, recommended by our nephew, Randy, that brought us back a second time. The Montana's Rib and Chop House. Highly recommend it if you are ever in the vicinity. New York Strip is out of this world good. We left our setting on the Yellowstone River Monday and headed to Cody, WY  for a week. Looking forward to taking in the sights and sounds, as well as a taste or two, of the offerings there.