Day 23 - Make It Monumental!

There was one objective today. To see Mount Rushmore. We had breakfast and then had a quick look around Wall before we were going to head off for the 90 minute car journey to get there. A friendly shop assistant asked us our plans today and she said today was the annual round up of bison at the Custer Park which is right next to the monument. She said at least 20 000 people would be there and advised not going. This was the first potential spanner in the works this trip as we had planned to get back on the road tomorrow in the opposite direction. We also had no idea what else we would do in Wall all day if we did not go. We went back to the motel for Internet access to check out this round up. The round up even made the local news. It did specify that it was mainly a morning event and we just decided to go anyway.

Turned out fine in the end. We did not encounter any traffic going there or on the other side of the road. Mount Rushmore itself is impressively imposing and the visitor centre had the usual facts about the Presidents in front of us. I'll admit I didn't realise Theodore Roosevelt was one of them. After taking a few photos it began to drizzle and it felt like the right time to leave. On our descent, there is a small town called Keystone. It clearly existed to serve the building of Mount Rushmore and has a kitsch appeal with a long arcade on one side of the road with a saloon amongst other stores. Alice and I had a coffee a bit further up the road and then leisurely made our way back to Wall.

We added some more excitement to the day by visiting Walmart on the way, ensuring we had snacks and supplies for the long drive tomorrow.

When we got back we had an early dinner and an early night. We had hit the Wall! (I know, these puns are getting worse)

Song of the Day:
Presidents of the United States - PeachesRead more