Day 8 - The Black Hills

Today we traveled around the Black Hills of South Dakota. The roads in this area are simply amazing for riding motorcycles. We did not experience a bad road all day. It's like this area was designed for motorcyclists. Maybe it explains the popularity of the Sturgis Bike rally.

We started off on 385 heading south to the Crazy Horse monument. I had heard and read a bit about it before we came, but had no idea how big the monument was compared to Mt. Rushmore. We watched a video that showed how all four Presidents heads could be placed within just the head of Crazy Horse. Something we learned is that it is not being funded by the government or tax dollars. It's all done with private funding.

The sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, (say that 10-times real fast!) was an interesting man. He was describing how the used compressor he purchased to help speed up the process kept shutting off one day. He said one day when he reached to top, he heard "kaput, kaput, kaput, kaput". So he climbed back down and restarted the compressor. One day the compressor cut off 9-times. He went up and down the latter until it kept running.

Korczak had constructed a ladder system that had 740 steps. The ladder system took him 2-years to build. Imagine hearing that "kaput" sound and making that hike 9 times! That's dedication. To put the distance into perspective, it's approximately like walking up a 50-story building!!!! You can read more about it at the Crazy Horse website.

We then headed towards Mt. Rushmore via Needles Highway. What an awesome road. There were so many switchbacks it would turn your head. There were also two sections of the road that actually spiraled into itself. Also, along the road, there were three rock tunnels that we passed through. All just one lane wide. The final two you could see Mt. Rushmore. That was a really cool design by the engineers of the road.

Mt. Rushmore was just as exciting because it's something you read and hear about all of your life. The entire complex is very nice with a museum, gift shop, restaurant, etc. It's all laid out in granite. You can see more photo's of the monument on the photo link.

We then headed to the bike rally capital of the world, Sturgis. The actual rally is not for another two weeks, but a lot of bikers were already in town. A few people we spoke to said that the rally has unofficially extended to a week prior and after the actual rally. There are just so many people that want to come and see the sights. We stopped in the most famous bar, One Eyed Jack's, and had a beer, or two, or three. Main street is really short. I can only imagine how they fit everyone in that little town. Everywhere we road today, you could see signs welcoming bikers to their town, or business.

Tomorrow we are starting our way back home. We will stop in the Badlands National Park. This was not on our intinerary, but a couple for Canada told us we had to see it. So I convinced Eric to adjust our route and take the time to go. Otherwise it will be a real boring ride to Kansas!