American Heritage Day

Another day dawns, and someone forgot to light the furnace. An overcast, partly-cloudy day looked to be in the cards, which was fine by us as we were starting the day underground. Jewel Cave, a national monument, is about an hour west of the KOA. We carefully positioned the car in the parking lot to avoid the rush at exiting.

Jewel Cave is one of the longest measured caves in the world. Unlike many caves, Jewel was largely inundated through its formation and consequently, lacks the more familiar stalactites and stalagmites are seen in most caves, such as Mammoth or Carlsbad.

Our 90-minute tour, some 250-ft below grade, traversed some 750 stairs, through surreal formations, exquisitely lit for maximum effect. Upon surfacing, imagine our surprise to see – SNOW!

We drove into Custer, stopped by the Flintstones theme park (not yet open for the season) because Stacey HAD to get her picture taken with Dino, and made our way to the Crazy Horse Memorial. A work in progress, started shortly after Mt. Rushmore, the mountain sculpture promises to dwarf Rushmore – assuming it ever is completed. The work was led by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski since the early 30’s, and continues today, led by seven of his ten children, and may be about 50% complete. Fronted by an enormous visitor center, studio, and all the usual paraphernalia, plans call for an Indian University, medical center, airport, and no-doubt timeshare condo’s.

An interesting juxtaposition is Mount Rushmore Monument, just a few miles away. Almost completed in 1941, the death of Gutzon Borglum and the start of World War II brought a stop to the work on the sculpture. I’m not one to rave about visitor centers, but this one creates an impressive and humbling entry experience. As cheesy as the idea of carved presidents heads in the mountain may sound (and the idea originated as a tourist draw), it is a pretty humbling place.

In search of warmth, we spent the latter part of the afternoon in a Hill City coffee shop reading and enjoying the comforts of modern civilization. A return to Rushmore for the night lighting of the faces finished our day. I wonder if for Halloween, they shine the lights from directly under the presidents’ chins?