Just Being a Tourist

Today we decided to visit several tourist attractions.  We chose to start with one we wanted to see and learn about - the Crazy Horse Memorial.  It is a truly massive undertaking.  The sculpture was begun in 1948 and will be the largest sculpture in the world when it is finished.  It was inspiring to see this beloved Indian leader emerging from the rock of the mountain.

We watched a film on the inception of the Crazy Horse Memorial and how it is being created.  I would love to be there when they are actually doing some of the explosive "carving."  The model of the sculpture is beautiful and in one picture, we actually captured both model and sculpture.

 You can see the lines on the right where the horse's head will emerge.

The grounds of the Crazy Horse Memorial house a visitor center, museum, gift shop, and sculptor's studio.  We examined many artifacts, photos, and stories while at the museum and it left us puzzled and saddened by the dreadful treatment of our Indian brothers and sisters.  It is clear that a deep lack of communication and an unwillingness to bridge a cultural gap lead to loss and bloodshed and a lingering feeling of mistrust.  I understand why the association that continues to build the memorial does not want to take federal funding or assistance for this effort.

We drove north from the Crazy Horse Memorial to the town of Hill City to find the Museum at Black Hills Institute to see the dinosaur bones and other geological finds.  It was small but fun.  The T-Rex skeleton was huge.  I can't imagine how much work and digging it took to get that whole skeleton out of the earth.  We found some smaller skeletons that were photo-worthy, too.  I couldn't get Stan (the T-Rex) all in one photo.

 Info on Stan

 Stan

Dennis' new pet

After the dry work of geology, we went to visit a winery, Stone Faces Winery, just north of Hill City.  The people were friendly and we sampled sips of several South Dakota wines and bought a few.  It was amazing to me that grapes could be grown in South Dakota, but the person who was helping us sample said that the grapes came from the southeast corner of the state where there was more water and a more moderate climate.  I am not complaining about dry weather!  We have had perfect, sunny, warm days and that has suited our travels just fine.

As we came back into Custer, I told Dennis I wanted to stop at the National Woodcarver's Museum.  This turned out to be kind of a waste of our money.  It was not what I expected.  I envisioned fabulous artistic works of wood carving from a variety of artists.  It was the work of one man and the carvings were like cartoons - many of them animated.  The displays were dated in feeling and presentation.  The final blow was that many carvings in the gift shop were from other countries.  I thought they were totally missing an opportunity to showcase American arts and crafts.  It was disappointing.

Tomorrow we plan to visit Wind Cave for an underground adventure.  Walking shoes and warmer clothes are in order for us!