All good things....

Our last full day in South Dakota was Sunday.  We slept in later than we planned due to being tired!  But we still had a full day planned!  Our first activity of the day was Black Elk Peak.  This hike was in Custer State Park and although I had not wanted to drive the Needles Highway through the park again, due to listening to the GPS, we ended up doing just that!   

More wildlife!

The Black Elk Peak was the one hike we didn't want to miss.  This peak is the highest in South Dakota at 7244 ft and the highest peak east of the Rockies.  The hike was a little under 7 hours round trip with an incredible view at the top!  It was very rocky at the top of the needles and Camden had a great time climbing.  I only yelled at him once to stay away from the edge!  There is also a fire tower at the top that had been built by the CCC in the 30's.  

There was a reservoir that caught water at the top...like a little mountaintop lake!

It was very windy at the peak!

You can hear the wind in Camden's video

After our hike, we decided to soak our feet in Sylvan Lake.  I had heard that they had filmed part of National Treasure 2 at this location.  We watch it again when we got home and recognized the spot!  It is where they are on top of Mt Rushmore pouring water on the rocks to find the entrance.

We had eaten a late breakfast and had some snacks on the hike, but we were a little hungry and headed to Custer to get a snack at the Purple Pie Place.  I got chicken pot pie and Camden got mac and cheese and ice cream.  

We had checked out of the Powder House Lodge this morning to go glamping on our last night in SD.  We went to Under Canvas for this fun experience!  We had our own tent with a private bath.  Of course since we were camping, there was no electricity!  We had our own wood stove for heat...fortunately we didn't need it as I was nervous about starting a fire!

The view from our front porch

The shower had a pull string to turn the water on...unfortunately, when you let go of the string, the water turned off!

I relaxed in our tent while Camden climbed the rocks behind our tent!  Later that evening, we started and finished a puzzle...finished in the dark with our lanterns.  Then dinner at the main tent with a view of the lit up Mt Rushmore.  The best part of the evening was that it rained and we could sleep in a very comfy bed while listening to the rain on our tent!

Camden's view of the camp from the rocks he climbed!

After not wanting to get out of bed in the morning because the bed was so comfy and it was now cold, we finally checked out and found a WIFI spot so that Camden could finish his homework.  After the homework was finished, we had just enough time to go to The National Presidential Wax Museum.  They did a good job on all of the presidents, except Reagan and the first Bush.

Camden trying to look presidential!

 

We had had an awesome trip and made great memories!  But it was time to mask up and head home.  South Dakota, you are unforgettable!

More than running on race day!

Race day started early and ended around 10:30 with lots of fun in between!  Of course some of the fun was the race itself!!

While waiting for Camden to finish handing out medals, I ran into Bigfoot!

We were both hungry after the race, so we headed to Custer to get lunch.  I wanted something with fries!

We had to stop to take pictures with my medal!

Another view of George Washington!

We ate at Buglin Bull in Custer for lunch and both got cheesesteaks, fries and a Coke!  A nice lunch after a long run.

We then went down to Wind Cave National Park.  We arrived at 1:30 and were able to get a tour for 3:30.  While we were waiting, we walked around the prairie, thought about what Laura Ingalls' life would have been like, and did some sitting!  

Camden sitting Indian style in the teepee

The Natural Entrance to the Wind Cave

Wind Cave was found when two men heard wind blowing and found that it was blowing from a hole in the ground.  Depending on the air pressure, sometimes the air blows out and other times it blows in.  As stories go, one man's hat was sucked into the cave when they looked at it the second time!  It was blowing out the day we were there.  Fortunately, people made another entrance to the cave so we didn't have to squeeze in this hole!

Views of the prairie...not much there to be honest.  Camden didn't want to know that people who lived on the prairie used buffalo chips to warm their homes!

We finally got to go in the cave for our tour.  This is a unique cave and very dry compared to most.  Therefore there were no stalactites and stalagmites.  There was boxwork....which is what this cave is known for.

More boxwork

We finished our tour and hurried to the Crazy Horse Memorial.  We got there just in time to catch the last bus to the base of the mountain.  The memorial was started 70 years ago and there is still a lot to do!  Korczak Ziolkowski was asked by Native Americans to carve a memorial to their heritage that rivalled Mt Rushmore.  He refused to take any government money because he thought it would be an insult to the Native Americans who had had so many promises broken.  Therefore, it has taken a long time to get as much done as has been finished.  His family is carrying on his legacy.

After the bus tour, we had enough time to watch the video of the project, look in the museum, and then watch the light show.

What the memorial will eventually look like.  

The light show used the stone as a backdrop for a laser show that paid tribute to Native Americans

We were tired and hungry after our long day so we headed back to the Powder House Lodge to eat dinner.  The waiter was very nice and gave any runners free ice cream for dessert!  

One more full day of adventure in South Dakota....