We have enjoyed a couple of incredible days.  Thank goodness we padded our trip.  There is simply no way to do this area justice in just two days.  Our first day was a whirlwind of activity with Sturgis, Mount Rushmore, and Stan, the dino man.  Yesterday was a much neded down day complete with sleeping in (as much as you can with four rascals), reorganized the trailer, and puttering around Custer.  The boys were tickled with the artistic bison statues scattered around town so after lunch we went on a photo safari.  We spent the afternoon wandering around town talking to everyone while we chased bison.  All three kids got to try their hand at taking pictures.  Nothing like seeing a four year old with a digital camera to start a conversation, as if I needed any help with Drew by my side.  The most unusual man we met was a biker named Dave who was driving cross country with his dog in a beat up Jetta.  He was collecting signatures on his car from people along his journey and invited the kids to contribute.  Writing on a car with a permanent marker definitely apparently beats a photo safari.  Bek even went so far as to draw Mr. Dave a pretty picture of a stick girl doing the bamba (Hawaiian) dance!

After saying goodbye to Dave and Buddy, we headed back to camp for an hour of rest time.  Of all the comforts of home, I miss my hour of daily solitude the most.  I am not sure “quiet” described the time that followed but the kids recharged, like they are ever short of energy, and I got the opportunity to reconnect with my computer friends.   The hour passed way too quickly and we were soon off to see the Crazy Horse Monument.

For those of you unfamiliar, the Crazy Horse Monument is the Native American equivalent to Mount Rushmore except that it is still in the process of being carved.  A homeschool friend suggested it as a stop, but when I looked it up online and discovered they had a $25 entry charge, I nixed it.  It was an outrageous fee to view a chunk of half carved rock.  My beloved history major demanded it be returned to the list.  Seeing a work in progress would supposedly help them appreciate Rushmore. He argued that its cultural significance warranted a stop if nothing else.  Chad hadn’t demanded much so I couldn’t refuse him in good conscious.  Grudgingly, I added it back to the list.

If you are ever in the Black Hills area, you simply MUST, MUST, MUST stop and check this place out.  The $25 dollars is still a bit to swallow but it totally changed our perspective on Mount Rushmore and the Native American experience.  I was amazed to learn that the project is completely privately funded.  Rushmore was built in 14 years by a team of some 400 men working from a bottomless government budget.  Crazy Horse was started back in the ‘30s by a single man hired by Sitting Bull.  Korzak worked independently for something like three decades.  They have a team of technicians working on it now but the whole program is run by his wife and seven of their ten children, a true family dream.  When you realize the grand scale of it all, it is simply amazing. 

We all left the orientation movie in awe and then moved through the Native American Art Museum.  Between Drew’s passion for Native American history and Kaleb’s appreciation of art, we could have spent an entire day wandering this section.  The life sized teepee and bust of Chief Joseph were the show stoppers for the zoo.  Outside, the boys were more interested with the 1/36^th model than the incomplete mountain itself.  Standing in the Sculpture Studio you can see the mountain just beyond the model.  The accuracy is amazing!  Postcards and souvenir pins were more fascinating that an expensive bus tour to the bottom of the mountain so we headed to the gift shop to pick out our treasures. They are supposed to have the most incredible laser light show but the kids were half frozen from exploring outside so we decided to pass.  On the way out, Drew got to talk with a blaster who had just gotten off work.  He looked like a chimney sweep from Mary Popins with dirt from head to toe.  Drew peppered him with questions as we all walked out to the parking lot.  Drew was a little taken back to learn that they work seven days a week and that the man preferred the old tools to the new.  The blasting had obviously damaged his hearing which started an interesting conversation about personal sacrifice.  It was an incredible day!

After returning to the camper, I made a startling discovery.  I don’t know how to turn on the heater!  With highs in the nineties when we left, working the furnace was the furthest thing from my mind.  The thermostat read a chilly 47 degrees as we pulled into camp.  We spent the night all snuggled up in a single bed under a mountain of blankets.  We were a pile of giggles and wiggles until Rusty felt left out and joined us.  Nothing like having an 80 pound lapdog join the party to make one feel confined.  Everyone eventually found their comfy spots and settled down for a good night’s sleep.  Snuggled up with four sets of popsicle toes, I drifted off to sleep feeling like the luckiest woman in the world.