Road Trip '07 - Day 3
Custer State Park (1)
After all the driving we decided to sleep in. We do have 6 complete days here in the Black Hills. My calves were aching as well. Probably the way I sit when I drive and keeping in that locked position for all those miles was a lot. After a late brunch we head to Custer State Park, a gem of a park.
Custer is big and quite varied. It has a wildlife sanctuary with a loop road that allows you to get up close and personal with some of the wildlife. Perhaps because it was so hot again today (mid 90s but cooler than the Badlands) we didn't see a lot of wildlife. Only we crazy bipeds with wheels go out on a day like that, using gas, running air conditioning and thinking we are "in nature."
Well, there were the prairie dogs,
but they're out all the time, it seems.
But then we came around the bend and there they were. The Herd. A Custer Park Traffic Jam. They ambled along coming out of a little valley.
Old and young. Ugly! But the strength, the power, was obvious.
It is intriguing how animals have intrigued and captured the imagination of native people in ways that those of us raised in the Christian tradition have trouble understanding. Looking at the Bison (not a true buffalo) I could see how the Plains Natives elevated this one to the top of the list.
A look in the eye would make you want to be very scared- or awed- or both. The Indians didn't have a car that they were sitting in while watching, either.
But it wasn't all bison. On our way out we drove around Stockade Lake and got an up close with a duck. I even dared to get out of the car for this one.
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Mt. Rushmore (1)
After supper we went over to Mt. Rushmore, an American icon. Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln.
Created in the 1930s and finished just months before World War II began it has a certain mixture of power and - I don't want to sound unpatriotic, so wait me out - corny. It was made in an era when we needed something big and permanent to symbolize who we were (and are?). What better way to do it than carve large figures out of granite- about as permanent as you can get in a world of change.
There is a certain chutzpah and grandiosity to it- using a mountain as your sculpture material. But it does remind us to stop and think. It is impressive. These four huge faces looking over you. Teddy Roosevelt's glasses are there as is Abe Lincoln's mole (on his right, more hidden cheek.) (More pictures later in the week when we came back.)
My back was bothering me more than usual tonight so we didn't stay for the closing show. We decided to come back another evening when the light was better as well. But before we left I was sitting easing my back a little and I looked out the window of the visitors center and saw the following picture all set up for me:
It was a group of Boy Scouts from southern Missouri. They were on a camping trip and had made the arrangements to be the scouts who did the closing flag ceremony that evening. To say they were excited- along with the chaperones and leaders who were with them- would be to do them a disservice.
As we left we looked off to the east, toward the Badlands, and saw the effects of the sunset in the distance. We were in the shadow of some distant thunderheads to the west. But the Badlands were catching those last rays of the day. The combination of distance, haze, and some high clouds again reminded me that you don't have to use BOLD and BRIGHT to catch attention. Pastels do a fine job on their own.
It was time to relax. Let the calves calm down (for which I brought some Sportscreme) and take it easy.
Miles today: 102 (Total: 720)
But then we came around the bend and there they were. The Herd. A Custer Park Traffic Jam. They ambled along coming out of a little valley.Old and young. Ugly! But the strength, the power, was obvious. It is intriguing how animals have intrigued and captured the imagination of native people in ways that those of us raised in the Christian tradition have trouble understanding. Looking at the Bison (not a true buffalo) I could see how the Plains Natives elevated this one to the top of the list. A look in the eye would make you want to be very scared- or awed- or both. The Indians didn't have a car that they were sitting in while watching, either.But it wasn't all bison. On our way out we drove around Stockade Lake and got an up close with a duck. I even dared to get out of the car for this one.<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Mt. Rushmore (1)
After supper we went over to Mt. Rushmore, an American icon. Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln.
Created in the 1930s and finished just months before World War II began it has a certain mixture of power and - I don't want to sound unpatriotic, so wait me out - corny. It was made in an era when we needed something big and permanent to symbolize who we were (and are?). What better way to do it than carve large figures out of granite- about as permanent as you can get in a world of change.There is a certain chutzpah and grandiosity to it- using a mountain as your sculpture material. But it does remind us to stop and think. It is impressive. These four huge faces looking over you. Teddy Roosevelt's glasses are there as is Abe Lincoln's mole (on his right, more hidden cheek.) (More pictures later in the week when we came back.)
My back was bothering me more than usual tonight so we didn't stay for the closing show. We decided to come back another evening when the light was better as well. But before we left I was sitting easing my back a little and I looked out the window of the visitors center and saw the following picture all set up for me:
It was a group of Boy Scouts from southern Missouri. They were on a camping trip and had made the arrangements to be the scouts who did the closing flag ceremony that evening. To say they were excited- along with the chaperones and leaders who were with them- would be to do them a disservice.
As we left we looked off to the east, toward the Badlands, and saw the effects of the sunset in the distance. We were in the shadow of some distant thunderheads to the west. But the Badlands were catching those last rays of the day. The combination of distance, haze, and some high clouds again reminded me that you don't have to use BOLD and BRIGHT to catch attention. Pastels do a fine job on their own.It was time to relax. Let the calves calm down (for which I brought some Sportscreme) and take it easy.
Miles today: 102 (Total: 720)
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