Great faces. Great places.

It took every ounce of willpower to get me out of South Dakota. I would have never expected the state to be so absolutely amazing. I originally went up from Nebraska as a detour simply to view Mount Rushmore, but found so many other special sites bunched up in the many state and national parks in existence throughout the area.

My trip is nearing an end and during the day, I am bummed about this, but at night, I couldn’t be more thrilled. Being alone in new locations where I don’t know a single person is liberating during the day. It feels amazing to know that everyone thought, decision and action is that only of my own. Then, at night, I simply want to be curled up in my bed in the comfort of my own home. Sure, I have a ghost (Ghostie) living there, but Shannon and I are pretty good fending it off. I will see everyone in just a few days. Until then, Wyoming and Idaho, here I come!

Highlights:


O'Neill, Nebraska, the "Irish capital of Nebraska." Tiny city in which I stayed the night. The place is decked out in green and is apparently home to the largest Shamrock, although I was unable to find it. The Blarney stone on the right, though, grants the gift of eloquence to anybody that kisses it.

Valentine, Nebraska, "Americas Heart City." On the left is the largest brick mural of Nebraska. Then, in the middle, notice the hearts on the street signs. They are on every street sign of the city. Here, I also encountered rain, which has been following me ever since.

South Dakota grassland

Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. These bison, as well as prairie dogs, deer and elk roam freely all over the park. Talk about a sight to see!

Crazy Horse Museum, Black Hills, South Dakota. Sculpter Korczak Ziolkowski, who had helped in the creation of Mt. Rushmore, began, in 1948, the creation of a monument depicting Crazy Horse pointing to his sacred land. To the left is the a model of the monument that Ziolkowski created. In the center, tools used in the creation of the monument and on the right, a wooded sculpture of Crazy Horse, also sculpted by Ziolkowski.

When Ziolkowski began the creation of the monument, he built a log cabin on the land for his wife and him and eventually his ten kids, to live in. Here is a picture of it on display at the memorial.

Ziolkowski is no longer alive, but his wife and some of his children head a team that is still at work on the monument. Seriously, it is huge! 563 feet tall (Mt. Rushmore is 60 feet tall). It's completion is taking a long time as it is funded completely by donation. Ziolokowski feared that accepting federal funds would risk the loss of its cultural meaning.
Much of the work done on the mountain is with the use of explosives. The monument and these explosions can be viewed on the memorials live webcam. http://crazyhorsememorial.org/webcam/

Ziolkowski and his wife had a total of 10 children. They drew various pictures of animals and their dad traced them onto sheets of metal and cut them out to create the fence outside of the memorial. Really neat idea. Of course, there are plenty of dinosaurs!

Presidential Trail, Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota. The fog on the day I visited the area was extemely thick, so thick that I couldn't see Mt. Rushmore. Luckily the trail and museum are quite the experience, so the visit was not a waste.


Mt. Rushmore Museum. Plaster models of the presidents. In the museum there is also a simulation center where visitors can ignite pseudo-explosives to view the video footage of real-live explosions on the mountain.

Ouside the Mt. Rushmore memorial. The third picture is a sculpture of Gutzon Borglum, the creator of the monument.

Horse Shoe Lake, Black Hills National Park, South Dakota.

Wind Cave, South Dakota. I go picture crazy in caves. This one was georgious! It is called the Wind Cave because winds near its entrance often reach 70mph. Yikes! It is also the 4th longest cave in the world. The longest cave in the world, Jewell, is located in the same region, but unfortunately, South Dakota has too many caves for the small amount of time I had, so I did not visit.



More from highway 22. I am now in love with cows.