When Adam booked our reservation at the Rushmore Shadows RV Resort they explained to him this was part of the Midwest Outdoor Resorts membership club. If we agreed to attend a two hour presentation during our stay then the cost would be reduced significantly. Since Adam really liked the amenities and location of this campground he agreed. This morning was the day we had to attend the presentation. It was supposed to last two hours. They had a staff member entertain the kids while we were in the meeting. It started late and we had to stay more than an hour over what we were expecting.
As soon as we fulfilled our obligation we grabbed a quick snack and headed out to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. Crazy Horse is in the Black Hills on land considered sacred by the Lakota people. It is about 17 miles further west from Mount Rushmore. Similar to Mount Rushmore this is a carving into the mountainside. Different than Mount Rushmore was the size this is planned to be. I say planned because while they have been working to build this for 50 years it is not projected to be completed for another 50 years.
The monument is planned to be the Native American war leader, Crazy Horse, riding his horse and pointing into the distance. The size of his head will be four times the size of one of the heads on Mount Rushmore. Korczak, the gentleman who was leading the effort had worked on Mount Rushmore with Borglum for some time. After he died his family took over leading the effort to complete this enormous sculpture. Currently the only thing that is complete is Crazy Horse's face. They are now working on the outstretched arm with the pointed finger and estimate it will take about 3-5 years to finish.
There was a pretty large exhibit and a movie here. We also found out they had a program similar to a jr. ranger program and we got the girls their own booklets. There was a scavenger hunt to complete and we all worked to explore the displays and find each of the requested items. Shortly after we arrived we saw Starr Chief Eagle walk in. We immediately went up to her to let her know how much we enjoyed her program yesterday at Mount Rushmore. She told us she would be doing one here today too. We continued to watch the time so that we wouldn’t miss seeing her program. We also watched the movie and learned how hard Korczak worked and all the challenges he faced. He had a single rope ladder that he would climb up every day to the top of the mountain. Before he would start up he would crank the generator to power his drill. It would often be the case that while on his way up or just as he got to the top he would here “kaput, kaput, kaput” and the generator would turn off. So he would have to then climb all the way back down to start it again and then go all the way back up.
There was a restaurant on site and they offered a small buffet. Once Ella heard that she wanted to go and try it. We had some time to eat before the hoop dance show.
With about ten minutes until show time we got a seat in the front row. It was just as enjoyable to watch and learn about hoop dancing today. Some of it was a repeat from yesterday but there was some different information we learned and the presentation was a little different too. We were happy to see her niece was also at this one.
While we watched it slowly started to drizzle. As the time went on it started to rain harder and harder. We hurried back into the exhibit to see if it was going to let up. We ended up deciding to just head back to the RV. Every night there is a light show on the side of Crazy Horse. If the weather allowed we would come back tonight. If not we would be able to use our admission from today to come back another night.
Lily and I stayed at the RV and Adam and Ella went out. Adam got his hair cut and they went shopping at Walmart. When they returned we decided to just take it easy the rest of the night and watch a movie.
