51st Escapade

We have been in Gillette, Wyoming for the 51st Escapade where we are serving on the staff for the first time. We arrived early to help get things ready and stayed through Labor Day weekend just to kick back for a few days. We always have a great time when we get together with our Escapee friends and it was great being part of the crew that helped to put on a fun, informative event for almost 1300 SKPs. There is something for everyone including seminars, socials, entertainment, crafts, bingo and more food than you can imagine.

Top right is the first staff meeting. It really does take a group effort to pull the whole thing off. Bottom is Lanny Swanson, who got us to volunteer and assist with the morning coffee and donuts the last time we were in Gillette for the rally. Here we were all packing the welcome bags for the attendees. All positions are filled by volunteers.

One of the pamphlets in the packet was about Northeastern Wyoming's Severe Summer Weather and as you can see we had a chance to experience some of it. We had a little rain, some hail, lots of wind but also abundant sunshine. I think we had three seasons with temps ranging from near 100 down to the low 40's. All that said the weather did not interfere with any of the planned activities.

At most SKP events we always get together with our Class of 07 mates and welcome new adoptees into our group. Top left are this years adoptees, including Jim & Cookie Grigware (right in group picture), who we know from Betty's in Abbeville. Center are Wanda & Wallace Lewis who are the first SKPs to give us a hug when we arrived at RV Boot Camp in Goshen in 2007. They are assistant directors this year. Right are Bob & Molly Pinner whom we met at that Boot Camp and who are the directors for this Escapade. Left center are Keith & Donna Green who were market hosts for all the vendors. Bottom left are Joe & Marcia Jones who were in charge of bingo. Center are Leland & Cathy Schleip who were part of the awesome parking crew that got all the rigs safely in place. Right are Mark & Renita Brackin who were on the sound crew and also hosted a great star party. The 07 gang played a big role at this year's rally.

Nanc talking to SKPs at the First Timer's Happy Hour we hosted along with other 07 mates, Joe & Marcia, Mark & Renita, Keith & Donna and Rich & Mary. This was the first time they have done a social for "newbees" and it was a big success with over 170 attendees.

SKP's are all about helping others and here Nanc lends a hand with the Sew Much Comfort group. They modify clothing for wounded soldiers. Another group of knitters made several hundred newborn baby caps for the local hospital.

Here we are doing our main jobs. Nanc had an exercise class every morning at 7:45 and I served as a seminar host for seven seminars throughout the week.

SKP's know how to have a fun time and there is a lot of talent in the group. One evening at the Ham-O-Rama several people entertained. As you can see they were almost all very good and only one person, the MC Mark Nemeth got the hook.

Many people stayed through the weekend as fulltimers usually prefer not to be on the road for holidays. We packed a lot of fun into those extra days. We had happy hours, a potluck, played games and ended the weekend with a surprise party for Marcia who will turning the BIG 50 this month. There were many gifts that are very appropriate for someone of that advanced age. On Tuesday morning the last of the rigs were hitched up and hitting the road. Many hugs were exchanged and plans made to see ya down the road. Safe travels to all.

Crazy Horse, The Biggest Dakota Art

In 1977 we did a Western trip and passed through the Black Hills. We visited Mount Rushmore, but did not pay to get in to see the Crazy Horse Memorial because from the road we could see the top of the mountain and it was nothing more than a pile of rocks. Much progress has been made since then but I am sure we will not live long enough to see the finished work. This GIANT sculpture was started in 1948 by Korczak Ziolkowski at the request of Lakota Chief, Henry Standing Bear, and other chiefs. They wanted to show the white man that the red man had heroes also. The main reason progress has been so slow is because Korczak felt the project should be built by public interest and has never accepted government money. He died in 1982 but the work continues today under the guidance of his wife, Ruth, and seven of their ten children.

Here is a plaster model of how the competed work will look with the mountain in the background. The rock they find may dictate some design changes, like the size of the hole under the extended arm, but their goal is to remain as true to Korczak's model as possible.
This is a picture of the mountain in 1977 when all that was done was the level surface above the arm, the tunnel under it, and the basic blasting of the face. This was after almost thirty years of work.

This is what you see today. Korczak's plan was to do the horse's head first, but after his death Ruth decided they needed to complete part of it sooner to keep the public's interest, so they concentrated on completing Crazy Horse's face instead. The outline of the horse's head is painted on the mountain. There are only eight people working on the mountain today and since the face was completed they have been blasting terraces to get to the rock that will eventually be carved. Nine of the eleven terraces are done. All of the blasted rock is removed from the rubble pile and will be used to construct buildings for a planned American Indian school and cultural center. When complete, the sculpture will be down to the tops of the trees.

Here is a comparison of the Presidents with Crazy Horse. They are about 60 feet high and his head is almost ninety. The finished work will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long with the arm being 263 feet. The horse's head will be 219 feet high including the 62 foot mane. This is truly a colossal undertaking.

Bottom left is the compressor and drill Korczak started with. He called it Kaput because on many days he would start it and climb the stairs to the top only to have the thing go kaput. Top right are the tools he used. Top left is the larger equipment they are using today, much of which has been donated. Bottom right is a piece of stone that was removed from over Crazy Horse's eye.

On top of the head is the frame work for the giant protractor that was used to measure where the rock needed to be carved. They no longer have to use it as they now have sensors planted on the mountain to electronically do the measurements. We did pay an extra $4.00 to get a closer look at the bottom of the mountain, but did not opt for the $125 to stand on the arm. Every year on the first weekend in June they have the Volksmarch and you are allowed to walk to the top. I guess a return visit is in the plans.

When complete the sculpture will be three dimensional. Unlike Mount Rushmore, you will be able to walk to the back side and see the work from a different angle. This is one of the things that makes this such a huge undertaking.

Here we are at the foot of the mountain.

The complex also includes the Indian Museum of North America with an outstanding collection of artifacts and a cultural center with craftsmen selling their handmade wares. We also got to enjoy a demonstration of native dances while there.

On our last day in the Black Hills we took a short ride on the George S. Mickelson Trail. This is a great rails to trails that runs for over 100 miles from Deadwood to Edgemont. Unlike other rail trails we have been on this one has pretty good grades that we had to pedal up. But of course, when you pedal up you get to coast down, which was very nice since it was a very hot day. In the background is Harney Peak where we hiked earlier in our visit. We really enjoyed the Black Hills and plan to return as there were many more things we wanted to see and do but could not cover in the week we were there. Having the opportunity to stay in places for extended visits and to be able to return to places we enjoy is one of the great things about the fulltime RVing lifestyle.

Mount Rushmore, More Big Dakota Art

The first idea of putting large sculptures on mountains to attract tourists to the Black Hills was to have heroes of the West carved into the needles. When Gutzon Borglum was hired for the job he said that if he was to do the work the sculptures would have to have a more national significance than local Western figures. He chose the four Presidents for the work and scouted the area, choosing Mount Rushmore because its southeastern exposure with its direct sunlight would enhance his work. The results are spectacular.

There are many places with distant views of Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It is too bad that Borglum's original plan to allow tourists access to the top of the mountain was never realized. It would be great to see the view across the Black Hills to the prairie that the Presidents will see for eternity.
Sculpture of the sculptor Gutzon Borglum.

The Avenue of Flags with 56 flags of the states, districts, territories and commonwealths of the US create an impressive entrance to the memorial.

Of course, Mount Rushmore is all about BIG. Each head is approximately 60 feet high. If head to toe figures had been carved they would have been 465 feet high with the feet at the bottom of the rubble pile behind us.

Mount Rushmore before the work began. Over 90%, 450,000 tons, of rock was removed using dynamite before jackhammers were used to honeycomb the rock to weaken the granite so it could easily be removed. The final step was to use a bumper tool to make the surface as smooth as a sidewalk. All this work was done by the workers hanging over the front of the mountain in Bosun chairs. Miraculously, not one worker was killed.

The Presidential Trail offers a different view. Washington was chosen as the "Father of Our Country," the leader of the Revolution and the first President. Lincoln was chosen as the "Great Emancipator" who held the country together. He was Gutzon's favorite president and he named his son Lincoln. Jefferson was chosen as the writer of the Declaration of Independence and for expanding the nation with the Louisiana Purchase. Roosevelt was the most controversial choice because he had only been dead for eight years but Borglum felt the building of the Panama Canal during his Presidency realized the dream of Columbus of a water route to the Pacific. He was also a personal friend of the sculptor.

In the sculptor's studio is the original 1:12 ratio plaster model Borglum sculpted. Look carefully and you can see the finished work through the top of the window. Precise measurements were made on the model using a protractor on the top of the heads and a plumb line. These measurements were then multiplied by 12 and transferred to the mountain to show the workers what rock needed to be removed.

Here we are with Don "Nick" Clifford who worked on the project from 1938 to 1940. Nick has written a book on his experience as one of the the 400 workers. It was great to meet and talk to someone who knew Borglum and was there when the project was completed. I always think it is neat to look at things from the perspective of how closely people and events are connected. I met Nick in 2011, Nick knew Borglum in 1939, Borglum knew Roosevelt 1900. Through three people I have a connection going back over 100 years. Neat! Even though the work was not totally completed it stopped six months after Gutzon Borglum's death in 1941 as WWII was threatening and money ran out. Mount Rushmore is a must see as a great American icon and BIG Dakota art.

Custer State Park

As we drove from North Dakota into South Dakota across the prairie we began to notice off in the distance this long line of hills that appeared to be black. It became quite clear how these hills got their name. Custer State Park is a great place to get an up close look of the Black Hill. The highway through the park has fabulous views of the hills and many different animals. The rock formations in the Black Hills are very interesting. These are called the Cathedral Spires.
More granite formations that have survived years of erosion. These types of formations are called needles
Little Devil's Tower is a smaller version of the one in Wyoming.

The fire tower at the top of Harney Peak at 7,242 feet.

Here we are at the top of Harney Peak. This is the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and the Swiss Alps, so we felt like real mountain climbers. The actual climb was not that difficult as we started at 6,145 feet and the 3 1/2 mile trail was not very steep.

The fabulous 360 degree view from the top makes the climb well worth the effort. The brown trees are dieing because of an invasive pine beetle. Because of Global Warming the winter have been to warm to kill the beetles. We have seen this same issue all over the West.

Chris and Jim Guld are the Geeks on Tour. We have crossed paths with them several times on the road. This year we just missed them in Nappanee, IN and Madison, WI and they were right behind us when we got off the interstate in Rapid City, ND but turned off to another campground. On our Harney Peak hike we met them on the trail. They travel the country doing computer classes at RV rallies. We have taken the classes and purchased one of their videos and would recommend both. They are also on their way to the Escapade Rally in Gillette, WY so we look forward to seeing them again and taking another of their classes.

These stacks of logs are part of the effort to control the pine beetle. The diseased trees are logged and the small logs are piled up to be burned when it is wet enough to control the burn.

The Needles Highway is a must do in the Black Hills. This is why we tow a car. It took this bus about fifteen minutes to squeeze through this tunnel that is one of five.

We saw more wildlife in the park than we have seen in a long time. This is a great place to see the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play. Here a few sheep on the side of the hill right along the road. They were knocking rocks down on to the road.

A white tail buck with his rack still in velvet.

A pronghorn.

OBJECTS IN MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR!!!!

The park has a herd of 1300 buffalo who have free range to roam. The signs in the park read, Animals At Large. This is where the movie Dances with Wolves was filmed. We saw this herd of 200 or 300 coming across the hill so we stopped and waited and were rewarded with really up close sights and sounds. Click here for a short video of the buffalo surrounding the car.

Each September the entire herd is rounded up and placed in corrals to be examined. The newborns are branded and some are sold to keep the herd at a manageable size. Several people told us that seeing the entire herd running across the prairie is a must see so we have decided this a very good reason to return to Custer State Park again in the future. We really enjoyed spending time in the park and highly recommend a visit. You are sure to see buffalo and if you drive through in late afternoon you have a very good chance of seeing all the other animals as well. Very cool!!

Drugs, Missles & Badlands

On our first day in the Black Hills we did a 200+ mile road trip to the Badlands. Driving big distances is to be expected "out West" as things are spread out over a very large area. We stopped at Wall Drug and two national park sites.

As soon as we were on the interstate we began seeing signs urging travelers to stop at Wall Drug. The store became a big stop starting in 1936 when, after five years of not being able to attract business from the highway, they put up their first sign, "Free Ice Water." Business grew so rapidly that in 1937 they had to hire eight girls to handle the crowds who, after getting a free drink, began spending money. Oh yes, they still offer free ice water and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.
The small store has grown into a whole block of buildings selling just about everything, from authentic Western wear to typical imported Made in China tourist junk. It really has changed a lot since my visit in 1964 on my way to college in Montana. We can now put Wall Drug on our been there done that and don't need to go back list.

Just down the road from Wall along I-90 we discovered a different kind of national historical site, a Minuteman Missile launch command center. There were once hundreds of missile silos across the Great Plains. I was surprised to learn there are still 500 deployed. The sign at the entrance warned that in an emergency visitors must be capable of climbing two 15 foot ladders. While waiting for the tour we got some inside background from another visitor who had been a construction supervisor building command centers and missile silos all over the Great Plains. The group was so big they split it in two and while we toured the top side facilities the others went down the elevator to the underground command center. The top right pic is the building we toured. The top left pic is a ranger climbing the ladder after the elevator broke down. We ended up leaving and did not get to see the command center or find out if the group that did had to climb out. Bottom is the top of a missile silo a few miles away and the inside of the command center we did not get to see.

Next we drove through Badlands National Park. The land in the park was once an ancient sea floor that has eroded to produce spectacular, beautiful formations. There is very little water and in many places it looks like a moonscape.

A big horn sheep on the ridge. We also saw buffalo in the distance.

As with much of the West this year, the Badlands are greener than normal because of so much snow melt and rain. Here, the distant rain seems to dry out before hitting the ground.

The clouds began to clear and the colors became more brilliant in the sun.

The colors change with the different layers of rock and as the sun moves across the sky.

There is also a lot of tall and short grass prairie in the park.

Badlands National Park is different from the badlands we visited in North Dakota. It was formed by erosion and is more varied in color and appearance. It is a worthwhile stop and an easy drive off I-90 and you can stop for free ice water at nearby Wall Drug.