6/30 The Black Hills (Custer, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore)

Very busy day today. It started in the Badlands, and then I headed towards the Black Hills National Forest where I drove through Custer State Park, went to Crazy Horse Monument, and finished up the evening at Mt. Rushmore.

CUSTER STATE PARK:

I'm so glad I didn't pass this up. This was an amazing drive and saw lots of wildlife.

I love these tunnels.

The beautiful recreational Sylvan Lake.

Sylvan Lake. When walking around the lake on the path, I'm 80% certain I passed Paul Sr. (That's the Dad on "American Choppers")

An even smaller (and longer) one-way tunnel.

A pronghorn.

A relaxing buffalo. Hopefully this guy is OK. He was all by himself.

The begging burros cause mini traffic jams. The burros were work animals that were left in the area years ago. Now they're wild, living in the hills of Custer State Park... but are semi-dependent on people food, having no fear in going up to each car and person nearby.

Sorry buddy. No food for you.

Look carefully. Perched up high on those rocks in between the trees, you can see a white mountain goat.

CRAZY HORSE:

The model in the forefront.

When this is finally done (not in our lifetime), it will be the biggest sculpture in the world, and fully three-dimensional on all sides. To give it perspective, each eye is 9 feet high and Mt. Rushmore would be able to fit on Crazy Horse's arm. It will end up being taller than the Washington Monument.

Showing the progress.

MT. RUSHMORE:

George peaking around the corner.

The lighting ceremony. It's darker than it should be and you can hardly see it because the iPhone video doesn't record well in the dark.