Day 5

Good Morning


We try to sleep in, but we both end up waking up at 7:30am. We go down to the hotel restaurant, Enigma, for breakfast. We decide to try the buffet which includes pancakes, sausage, eggs, and more.


After breakfast, we walk down to Essence of Coffee where we both order the special of the day, Autumn's Kiss. It is a vanilla latte with cinnamon. Coffees in hand, we go out to the car and drive out to Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore


We don't even reach the entrance gate before we see the faces, and we pull over on the side of the road to take a picture. We enter the memorial and park the car near the Lincoln lot. On our way up to the viewing deck, we see a friendly little chipmunk. As we walk towards the heads, the walkway is lined with flags and it is called the "Avenue of Flags". The flags are there to represent each state and territory of the United States of America.


We take several photos of the monument, and then head down into the museum area to learn about the making of it. I am surprised to learn that the carvings are unfinished. I just always have assumed that they are complete and how they are intended to look. The project ran out of funding years ago, and the rocks are no longer stable enough to endure further carving. Despite the fact that the monument will not be worked on in the foreseeable future, a majority of Americans would like to see a fifth face up there, and according to polls, they'd like it to be Franklin D. Roosevelt.


We go to the gift shop, buy a few items, and then leave. On the road between Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse, we are able to see George Washington's profile, which is kind of neat.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial viewed through an avenue of American flags on a sunny day.
Mount Rushmore monument carved into granite rock face against bright blue sky.
Side view of Mount Rushmore showing the massive scale of the carved presidential faces in the Black Hills.
Profile view of Mount Rushmore showing the carved granite faces emerging from rugged rock formations.
Tourist visiting Mount Rushmore standing at the memorial's viewing platform on sunny day.
Visitor at Mount Rushmore viewing platform with the iconic monument in background.
Tourist posing in front of Mount Rushmore on clear sunny day.

Crazy Horse Memorial


We arrive at Crazy Horse Memorial and park the car. The whole place kind of reminds me of a giant museum, and I suppose it is. There's several buildings, and a few restaurants, a gift shop, and of course, Crazy Horse. The carving started in 1948, with an original timeline of 30 years to completion. As of 2022, the face, beginning of the outstretched arm, and thinning of rock for the horse head is all that has been completed. The memorial is privately funded, so it will take some time.


We walk through all of the exhibits, buy a few things from the gift shop, and have lunch at one of the restaurants which is called Laughing Water. Jeremy orders a club sandwich with sweet potato fries, and I have a chicken sandwich with fries.

The Crazy Horse Memorial mountain carving under construction in South Dakota.
Distant view of the massive Crazy Horse Memorial being carved into the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Large white sculpture stands at entrance of outdoor venue with mountains in background under blue sky.

Black Hills National Forest


We leave Crazy Horse and make our way back towards Rapid City. We had started to see smoke from a forest fire at Crazy Horse, but now we are driving even closer to it. We can see the smoke billowing up from the tree tops, and smell the forest burning. There are firemen out blocking some roads, and we are not in any real danger. We pull over on the side of the road so that I can get some photos of the smoke.


We continue driving, but then we see a few mule deer on the side of the road. We stop again so I can take photographs of the deer. We then stop for a third time at Horse Thief Lake so I can take photographs of that, too.

Silhouetted pine trees against orange and blue sunset sky in mountain forest.
Serene mountain lake reflecting golden sunlight with evergreen forest surrounding the shoreline.
Pine forest silhouetted against bright sunset sky with sunburst streaming through trees.
Dark pine tree silhouettes frame orange sunset sky in mountain landscape.
Tranquil lake with rocky cliff face reflecting in calm waters during sunset.
Dramatic granite cliff face jutting out over calm mountain lake surrounded by pine trees.
Two deer navigating through dense pine forest in golden afternoon light.
Orange smoke clouds rise above pine forest treeline during sunset.
Alert deer standing among pine trees and tall grass in natural habitat.

Rapid City


We return to Rapid City and go get coffee at Alternative Fuel. Jeremy gets an iced macchiato, and I get a vanilla latte. We also grab ice cream at the parlor next door called Silver Lining Creamery. Jeremy gets a scoop of pumpkin pie ice cream with a scoop of huckleberry in a chocolate dipped waffle cone. I get a scoop of Nutella swirl and a scoop of chocolate in a dish.


We return to our hotel room where we relax for a bit before heading down to Enigma for dinner. Jeremy has scallops, and I have walleye. Then we return to our room for sleep, ready for the long trip home tomorrow.

Coffee drinks on an outdoor cafe table with rustic brick wall and metal chairs in the background.