Dances With Wolves

Anyone remember the ambitious movie directed by and starring Kevin Costner, "Dances With Wolves?"  We are in Dances With Wolves country.  Rolling hills of grass with edges of pine trees.

Today was a beautiful day in the hills around Rapid City.  We left this morning after taking Honey over to the local Petco to get her hair done.  We felt it might be a better plan to have her trimmed while we went to the Rushmore Monument.  So she spent a few hours get trimmed and pampered.

While Honey was getting trimmed we took off and went out to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.  Once again, pictures do not do justice.  We stood in awe of the size and accuracy of the presidents presented here.  There is so much to see and do beyond taking pictures of the sculptures.  Standing and reading the time line from the beginning with Washington to the conservation and economic reform of Roosevelt.  And all that happened in between.  Men of vision that managed to help build the country that we live in without technology. 

It is the story of the man, Doane Robinson, who had the vision of a massive sculptures at the gateway to the west, where the Black Hills rise from the plains.  The backers sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, who made the vision come true with four magnificent busts high on the side of Mount Rushmore.  It is amazing to understand that the workers from 1927 to 1941, blasted and chiseled these busts with no technology.

After our visit to Rushmore we drove a few short miles up the road to the Crazy Horse Mountain.  It is not nearly as close to finished.  It depends entirely on donations, admissions, and gift sales to continue the work.  It is hoped that eventually the sculpture will be completed bring to reality the vision of Chief Standing Bear and other elders of the Lakota Sioux.  The sculptor chosen had worked on Mount Rushmore and was sent a personal letter from Chief Standing Bear asking if he would be willing to assist the elders.  Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski took the challenge and though he and his wife have departed, his family continues the work today.  The dream was for a facility to honor the American Indian while providing education.  Sadly it appears they have a long way to go.

After our visit to these sculptures we came back to Rapid City to pick up the little girl and come to the motel for the evening.

Hope all is well and thanks for dropping by.