A Corn Palace and Some Scary Storms...

We left the Black Hills heading East on I-90 and crossed from Mountain Time to Central Time. The landscape of South Dakota is beautiful. As we drove throughout the state, I noticed the small diamond shaped signs along the road. They put them up anywhere there has been a traffic fatality. The sign says "Think" on one side and "Why Die?" on the other side. They definitely do make you think.

One of the ubiquitous Wall Drug signs

Our first stop was in Mitchell, SD and the R & R Campground located behind the Super 8 Motel. We stayed there in 2014 and liked it and the Passport America rate made it a great deal. It's still a good place to stop but they are no longer Passport America and the rate with a Good Sam discount wasn't quite as good but it's still a good stopover spot. They do still give out a bottle of cold water to each guest as you check in. A welcome gesture when the temps are ninety degrees.

Mitchel is noted for having "the world's only Corn Palace" but fixing a broken closet rod in our fifth wheel took priority over seeing the Corn Palace in 2014. This visit we made it. Well, it's different but it's basically just a small convention center with lots of corn paraphernalia. The big draw is the cool murals on the outside of the building made completely of corn. They create new murals each year, done in late summer/early fall when the corn crop is ready. They're impressive.

From Mitchell we continued traveling East on I-90 into Minnesota. We stopped for a night at the Albert Lea/Austin KOA. It was a convenient overnight and the staff was very friendly and helpful but it was a bit pricey, as KOAs can be. We kept getting storm warnings and tornado watches on our phones as we were driving and were getting concerned. When we first arrived and settled in to our campsite there was a little sporadic rain but the skies looked okay...until they didn't. The clouds rolled in, the sky got dark and the rains came, along with winds and hail. It stormed for a couple of hours, then the sky lightened up just in time for a pretty sunset around 8:45.

The next morning...

We were thankful that no tornadoes materialized and glad to be moving on in the morning.

Crazy Horse...

The first time we visited the Black Hills we were told by a number of people to be sure to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial but somehow we just never made it there. This time it was at the top of the list. It is about sixty-five miles from our campground to Crazy Horse, a good day trip...and we enjoyed the sights along the way.

Just wish we'd stopped to buy a bottle of Red Ass Rhubarb Wine!

If, like me, you don't know how the Crazy Horse Memorial came to be, here's a little background.

In 1939 Korczak Ziolkowski, a sculptor from New England came to the Black Hills to help with Mount Rushmore. He also won first prize that year at the New York World's Fair for a marble portrait he'd done. Chief Standing Bear read about him in the news and invited him to create a mountain tribute to the North American Indians. Chief Crazy Horse was chosen for the monument by the Native American Indians because he was considered to be a warrior without equal and because the American Indians today believe his short life paralleled the tragic history of the North American Indians since their lands were invaded by the white man.

Click all photos to enlarge

Korcazk Ziolkowski and Chief Standing Bear - Reunion of Survivors of the Battle of Little Big Horn

The mountain carving is impressive but the history is what really caught my attention as I've always had an interest in the plight of the North American Indians. The movie you see when you first enter is full of interesting history and is even captioned so I was able to understand all the dialogue. After that we toured the museum, the sculptor's studio, the log home Korczak Ziolkowski built for himself and his family (he lived the first five years in a tent), and the gift shop (of course). I fell in love with some pottery but didn't have $500 to take it home! We also saw a cool demonstration of hoop dancing by some Native American girls.

The Crazy Horse Memorial is the world's largest mountain carving in progress. The sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started the carving in 1948 and married his wife in 1950. They had ten children, six of whom work on the mountain today along with a some of their twenty-three grandchildren. You can learn more on their website.

                        

We finished our day with dinner at the Laughing Waters Restaurant on the grounds. The profits go to helping fund the Crazy Horse Project.

Seeing Crazy Horse was well worth the one hundred thirty mile round trip.

Back in the Black Hills...

We loved the Black Hills of South Dakota when we were here in 2014 and said several times that we would definitely return...so return, we did. We saw most of the sights on that visit except for the Crazy Horse Memorial so that was at the top of our list this time. I also wanted to go back to Deadwood. It's kitschy, commercial and touristy and I love it!

We stayed in Day's End Campground in Sturgis this time. Nothing fancy, gravel pull-thru sites right off the highway with a few trees and some grass, but their rates are great and with Passport America it was too good to pass up.

Deadwood wasn't nearly as busy and crowded in early June as it was in July 2014...guess the season is just beginning in June...I like it better that way.

As I said in my 2014 Deadwood post, we went back to The Stockade at the Buffalo Bodega Steakhouse so I could sit and listen to Yancy DeVeer singing and making jokes. I was happy! The food is just okay but I go for the entertainment!

We also went to Kevin Costner's Midnight Star and had dinner upstairs at Diamond Lil's. His more upscale restaurant, Jake's, has closed. The food at Diamond Lil's is good bar food but the memorabilia is great. I never realized just how many movies he's done. I've seen a lot of them but it seems there are even more I haven't seen! Guess I'm going to have to do something about that.
 

Our last night we were feeling lazy and just went up the street from the campground and discovered the Pizza Ranch. It's a mid-west chain with a pretty good buffet...the best things on it are the fried chicken, the California pizza and the dessert pizza (especially the peach!)...Senior price is only nine dollars and change and it includes a drink. Can't beat that!

Crazy Horse Memorial is about 65 miles from Sturgis and we made a full day trip out of it. That will be my next post...