Day 23- Independence Day - Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore

We've had another beautiful day. It started off as though it might be a washout but the sky cleared up, the sun came out, and we had a good day at Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore.

First thing, Crazy Horse, as at 11:00 a.m. they were blasting the rock today to carve out rocks on the mountain. There was a bit of a "technical problem". Everyone was ready with cameras aimed. The one-minute siren went off, then nothing. It was announced that there would be a 10-minute delay. A brief shower started so people scattered. Three minutes later it was announced they would have to manually set off the explosion. Then two minutes and the one-minute siren sounded again. Everyone came running back from shops and wherever they had scatterd to. There was a muffled boom but nothing else. Mrs. Ruth Ziolkowski, the CEO/President of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation and wife of the late sculptor, Korczak, announced that apparently it wasn't a very good day so people relaxed with their cameras, and only a few seconds later a Flash, an explosion and smoke. I was one of those who had "relaxed my camera" and missed both a digital photo of the flash and explosion. oh well. It was still pretty neat to witness the work in progress...even without a photo of all that. I did get a picture of the smoke that followed the eplosion. :)

Another interesting part of the day was that three WWII Navajo Code Talkers had been invited to witness the explosion as well. Pretty amazing to see those veterans. During the ceremonies introducing the navajos they played a tape with a recitation of "The Pledge of Alliegence" and Lee Greenwood's "I'm Proud to be an American." I must be getting emotional in my "old age" as it put a lump in my throat.

After that and lunch at a neat "dude ranch" of sorts, off to Mt. Rushmore. It was crowded but still a sense of pride on Independence Day to see this beautiful monument. It was small compared to the Crazy Horse monument though.

Linda and I are a bit tired so are resting up a bit before we head out to have dinner. Tomorrow it's Omaha, with a side trip to "The Badlands". I saw some more beautiful South Dakota scenery today and look forward to a few more stops (Omaha and Chicago) before heading home. Can't wait to sleep in my own bed though.