We left the campground about 8:45, then made our way to the local Target store for some additional supplies we discovered we were missing. On the way out of town, we drove by the campus of U of Nebraska-Kearney, one of our MIAA opponents. The Lopers, whatever that is. But it’s a nice campus in a beautiful little town.
We headed west on I-70, and turned off to go northwest at North Platte, Nebraska. North Platte must be the railroad headquarters of the world. I’ve never seen such a trainyard, not even in Kansas City. As we drove along the Platte River valley, we met train after train loaded with coal headed for North Platte (and points further, I suppose). I’m guessing that all that coal was coming from the mines in Wyoming, and it seemed that no sooner had we passed one train than another appeared. Seriously. It seemed like there were dozens of them.
The countryside soon became treeless, but not barren, or flat. Everything was deep green, as though rain had been plentiful this spring, and the ground had serious roll to it. Lots of up and down hills as far as you could see. But when we entered Nebraska National Forest, we were in the middle of a pine and spruce forest. It didn’t last long, and soon we were back to the treeless, grassy covered hills, with not a tree in sight. For miles and miles, the only trees were those that farmers had planted around their houses as windbreaks.
We entered South Dakota and the Black Hills were soon in sight. Or at least mountains that we assumed were the Black Hills. We passed through Hot Springs, which has to be one of the most picturesque little towns I’ve ever seen. Many of the beautiful old buildings are made of rock from the surrounding hills, and, as you might imagine, are populated with antique shops, art galleries, coffee shops, and others geared to the thousands of tourists that come to this part of the country each year.
We stopped at the Crazy Horse Memorial (pictures), and watched the movie and toured the museum. We were in time for the last performance of the dancers from the Oglala Lakota tribe who live nearby on the Pine Ridge reservation. There was a profound sense of déjà vu after coming from the capital of the Cherokee Nation. I’m thinking there must have been one master choreographer who taught dancing to the Native Americans. But the massive sculpture (in process) is impressive and when it’s finished, sometime in my grandkids’ lifetimes, perhaps, it will be even more impressive. It will be the largest sculpture in the world. All the presidents on Mt. Rushmore would fit just in the head of Crazy Horse.
We’re now at Horse Thief RV park, just out of Hill City, South Dakota. It’s heavily wooded, and just a couple of miles from the highest point in the state. And about 12 miles from Mt. Rushmore National Monument, one of tomorrow’s destinations.
We headed west on I-70, and turned off to go northwest at North Platte, Nebraska. North Platte must be the railroad headquarters of the world. I’ve never seen such a trainyard, not even in Kansas City. As we drove along the Platte River valley, we met train after train loaded with coal headed for North Platte (and points further, I suppose). I’m guessing that all that coal was coming from the mines in Wyoming, and it seemed that no sooner had we passed one train than another appeared. Seriously. It seemed like there were dozens of them.
The countryside soon became treeless, but not barren, or flat. Everything was deep green, as though rain had been plentiful this spring, and the ground had serious roll to it. Lots of up and down hills as far as you could see. But when we entered Nebraska National Forest, we were in the middle of a pine and spruce forest. It didn’t last long, and soon we were back to the treeless, grassy covered hills, with not a tree in sight. For miles and miles, the only trees were those that farmers had planted around their houses as windbreaks.
We entered South Dakota and the Black Hills were soon in sight. Or at least mountains that we assumed were the Black Hills. We passed through Hot Springs, which has to be one of the most picturesque little towns I’ve ever seen. Many of the beautiful old buildings are made of rock from the surrounding hills, and, as you might imagine, are populated with antique shops, art galleries, coffee shops, and others geared to the thousands of tourists that come to this part of the country each year.
We’re now at Horse Thief RV park, just out of Hill City, South Dakota. It’s heavily wooded, and just a couple of miles from the highest point in the state. And about 12 miles from Mt. Rushmore National Monument, one of tomorrow’s destinations.
Really cool! Pine Ridge was one of the four most violent reservations in the U.S. when Michael worked for the BIA. There's a good documentary on Pine Ridge by Diane Sawyer, I think.
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