Day 34 - Faces in stone

Memorial Day in Keystone, SD, and thankfully the weather was less tempestuous than yesterday. We started with the larger of the two enormous stone sculptures in the area, the Crazy Horse Memorial. 

The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski, who had worked on the Mt. Rushmore faces under Gutzon Borglum. The sculpture will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. 

Work started in 1948 and it is far from complete, partially due to the scale of the effort, but mainly because the project is privately funded. In addition to the sculpture itself, the campus includes a visitor center, a restaurant, the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native American Education and Cultural Center. 

Once complete, the sculpture will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high, making it the second tallest in the world. Although this is much larger than the Mt. Rushmore sculpture, the scale is hard to appreciate because visitors can't get close, except by bus or helicopter (it's an active blasting site). Nevertheless, it is a hugely impressive site.

Then to the Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. Part of the National Park Service, the facility is a full of interpretive information, walking trails, guides - the whole smash. And on Memorial Day, it was in full swing.

The rock is a granitic intrusive, and as seen on the left side of George, it is very fractured. It's a wonder that a nose hasn't fallen off. There is a contact between the younger overlying granite and the underlying older metamorphics that is just at the bottom of George's coat. This is more obvious in the rock on his left.

The walking trails lead along the toe of the blast debris from the sculpture. The figures are imposing against the skyline.

After touring the two sites, we headed for Hill City. Like many other small towns, there seems to have been a contest to set as many bars as possible in the municipal footprint. We started at the 1885 Steakhouse & Saloon. The name was misleading, as they had nothing on tap, and half of their menu was not available, including steak. We wandered down the street and found the Bumpin' Buffalo Bar and Grill. Much more suited to what we needed. It was rustic, had dead animals everywhere. We tried some local beers on tap and had a great lunch. So great that we headed home for an afternoon nap!

We added to the license plate count - Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arizona Navajo Nation, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Caddo Nation, Oklahoma Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma Chocktaw Nation, Oklahoma Osage Nation, Oklahoma Peoria Nation, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee. Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and the US Government. And from Oh Canada - British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. And from Mexico - Ciudad de Mexico, Sonora.

Still missing Delaware, and Maine. 

Visiting these National Parks made us realize how many tremendous sites there are to see in both Canada and the U.S. I found a great DK Eyewitness book on the national parks. I love their books as they are full of photos and have great factoids. Try this one from the library before planning your next trip, USA National Parks: Land of Wonder.

It seems like summer is upon us. Kids are out of school, and the parks are full. Time for The Mavericks. Can't have a blog with from RnB and no music from our favorite band. Here it is - Summertime.

The Mavericks - The Mavericks Live On CONAN - "Summertime (When I'm With You)" - YouTube