About That Mount Rushmore (May 22 - 28)

Dear Family and Friends,

We stayed for part of the week at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota. It was great to see and hear the B1 bomber. I am filled with much gratitude for the young men and women serving in the Air Force and for those family members that support them. How thrilling to hear Retreat and then The Star Spangled Banner at 5 pm every day!

Sunday, May 22nd, found us at Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park. The pictures say it better than I can.

Bear and Roger are looking forward to seeing Mt. Rushmore!

This shot is taken at the artist's studio where the original sculpture model is located. You can barely see George Washington's face. Notice how it is lined up with the actual sculpture on the mountain.

Mountain goats live around the area.

Buffalo Stew with quite a view!

 The Crazy Horse memorial where the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, is honored.  This is a work in progress. To give you an idea of the scope of this work, Mount Rushmore fits in Crazy Horse's forehead. You can see what a mammoth undertaking this is.

Custer State Park gave us the opportunity to view wildlife in a protected environment. The park is known for their buffalo herd. We were lucky to see lots of calves with their mothers. We also saw burros and deer.

Bear loves sightseeing! 

On Wednesday, May 25, we left Rapid City and drove across South Dakota on Interstate 90 to Sioux Falls. There we turned south on Interstate 29 to Omaha, where we stayed at Offutt Air Force Base. The drive across South Dakota was beautiful. With so much rain, all parts of the State are green. 

Thursday, May 26, we left Nebraska, for Parsons, Kansas, where Roger has very strong ties.  His favorite Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jud have a 30 amp electric plug  for us outside of their home so that is where we are staying until Tuesday.  On our drive to Parsons, we took a break along the Missouri River. To our amazement, this was the sight where Lewis and Clark made one of their stops on their expedition. The pictures below show the bluff where you can observe the Missouri River.

Roger's Uncle Jud and Aunt Ruth in the Tour.

Koko, you had better watch out! Bear has fallen for Patty!

Thank you for following our adventures on the blog. We will stay in Parsons until Tuesday and then head over to Lake Stockton in Missouri. We are looking forward to a slower pace for several weeks.