After leaving the Grand Tetons, we stayed for a night at Gruener Brothers Brewery. One of my favorite Harvest Host stays. They had an excellent barrel-aged beer named More Smores! Yum!!!
We then moved on to Mount Rushmore. We got there on July 2nd as it was being decorated for Americas 250th celebration to be held the next day. Military bands from all the branches were there and we got to hear them play! Seeing the 4 presidents on Mount Rushmore was incredible. We attended the evening program that included a movie about the Monument and America. It ended with the Monument being lit up at night!
The place was packed!
On July 4rd, we went to the Crazy Horse Monument. It’s a rock carving much like Mount Rushmore but it honors a legendary American Indian. It’s a work in progress with construction continuing through the years. The Monument celebrates the Indian culture with a museum and live demonstrations.
We celebrated the 250th July 4th celebration at Custer, South Dakota. A parade, brewery and fireworks filled the day! Custer is a nice western town!
The next 2 days was spent exploring nature. We saw Bison Herds, Pronghorn Antelopes and Prarie Dogs! Lots of Prarie Dogs!!!
We had a close encounter with a Bison Herd on one of our hikes that made us blaze a new trail to avoid them. They say to keep a 5 bus length difference for safety but they were staring at us along the way which didn’t make us feel safe at all!
We finished our adventure with a wild tour of the Wind Caves. It’s one of the biggest caves in the country! Our Park Ranger who led the tour was amazing and so funny! We got to hear the history of the cave and how it evolved through the years!
Our next stop is the Badlands!
-Bob
