Through Wyoming and on to Mt Rushmore

The breakfast at the King's Inn was pretty weird what with all those dead animals staring down at us with their glassy eyes.  But we got the car loaded and headed east with the goal of making it to Mt. Rushmore by the evening.  But first we had to get through the rest of Wyoming.  We set the GPS in the car for Keystone South Dakota.....the gateway to the prezes, and hit the road following Rt 14.  Soon after we passed the town of Shell, WY, we were in a totally different environment.  We had unknowingly come to the Bighorn Scenic Highway which leads through the northern part of the Bighorn range.  Our mouths literally dropped open in amazement at the sights before us.  Rising before us were ancient rock formations that were the remnants of an inland sea.  Signage told us that the rocks were millions, even billions of years old and were raised to the heights of 8000-10000 feet by the forces that shaped the rockies.  The colors and shapes were beyond description.

After slowly zig-zagging through the gigantic blocks of ancient rock, we started to descend to the plains below.  Then mile after mile of prairie faced us and also the traffic of I-90.

By 4 pm we were approaching our destination.  Jeff was worried that there would be a long line of tourists such as he had experienced on another trip, but luckily he was wrong.  The traffic was light and we got through Keystone and all the tourist traps to find easy parking and a short walk through the pavilion to the presidents on Mt. Rushmore.

After visiting the presidents and talking to people from all over the states, we broke our diet for ice cream and again headed east with the goal of getting as far through South Dakota as we could.  We stopped at the famous Wall Drugstore for dinner and made it as far a Kadoka SD before we had to stop for the night at the Sundowner Motel.....a decidedly "budget" lodging.  The air conditioning and shower were fine, but the bed was the hardest ever.

The famous Wall Drugstore.  Tourist trap supreme!

Sundown at the Sundowner