June 18, 2012 - Day 7, Mt. Rushmore Tour

We had to wake up early and be to Ft. Hayes to eat breakfast and catch our tour bus. When we got there to check in they had us scheduled on two different buses. We didn't think anything about there being more than one bus and the possibility of us getting on two different buses. While we were eating breakfast a nice lady did some rearranging so that we could be together. It was a little bit of a mess, but she got it all worked out. We walked around the little shops at Ft. Hayes and then caught our bus at 9:00 a.m. Our bus driver and tour guide was Ken. He was a little strange, but did a great job of keeping us entertained. He talked non-stop for the full ride. Our first stop was at Mt. Rushmore. We spent about an hour there visiting the visitors center and learning about how they made Mt. Rushmore. It is amazing what they were able to do in the 1930's. We took lots of pictures, got our souvenirs and then got back on our tour bus. 

We continued on the Custer State Park route. The ride was very windy and narrow for a big bus. There were a lot of great views of Mt. Rushmore. The guy that built the highway, built it so that there were several times around the pigtail highway that you could view Mt. Rushmore. Our next stop was at the Game Lodge. We picked a grassy area and sat down and ate our packed lunch. We were there for about an hour and then got back on the bus. Somewhere along the way we got to get off the bus and pet a wild donkey. Apparently they are really friendly and love to be fed. Ken had brought along popcorn just in case we got to see one. Some of the kids enjoyed feeding the donkey popcorn. 

We saw a lot of big herds of buffalo and stopped along the way a couple of times to get out and take some photos of the roaming buffalo. 

Then we went on Needles Highway and through the narrowest tunnel. It was quite funny go through it. There were a lot of people standing at the end of the tunnel that just stood there and watched to see if the bus could actually make it through the tunnel. Ken stopped halfway through the tunnel and put it into park. He said,"Watch this, we'll see if we can get those people to believe we are stuck in the tunnel." He revved up the engine and started honking the horn. It was funny to see their reaction. We made it out of the tunnel. He stopped and asked a lady, "Do you know where Mt. Rushmore is?" She pointed back the direction we had just come from. He then said, "will you go on the back of my bus and call my boss to come and get us and then book yourself a tour?" We were all laughing. 

Our next stop was Sylvan Lake. It was a beautiful lake. We were only there a short time. We walked around the gift shop and then walked to the lake to take some quick pictures. 

Then we headed to Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse was cool, but would be a lot cooler if it was finished. I don't think we will ever see it finished in our lifetime. They will not accept funds from the federal government and will only accept private donations to complete it. It is a slow moving project. We were all getting tired after a long day, but agreed that the tour was well worth the money spent. It was nice to have someone else drive us around and give us the history that we would have never known otherwise. 

By the end of the day everyone was exhausted. This is what we looked like waiting for our bus to return.

After Crazy Horse, we headed back to Ft. Hayes for our chuck wagon dinner. We had to wait a little bit, but once we got our food and was seated we were all happy campers. The dinner and Cowboy Music Show was very entertaining. It was over by about 8:30 and then we headed back to camp. We were all exhausted from a long day.

June 17, 2012 - Day 6, Route to South Dakota

We got on the freeway to head towards South Dakota and didn't get too far before Kyle blew a trailer tire. We had been doing so good without any blown tires. We quickly changed it and got on our way. We stopped in Gillette, WY to get a replacement tire. The only place that was open on a Sunday that had tires was Walmart. It ended up being one expensive tire, especially for a Walmart. We then headed towards Devil's Tower. It was a little off route, but we decided it was worth taking a detour because we would probably never get back up this way, or at least not for a long time. It was a pretty cool thing to see. We had to leave our truck and trailer and unhook Kyle's trailer in a parking lot, because there wasn't enough room at the top of the mountain for our big rigs. We all piled in the back of Kyle's truck and went the additional 2 miles to the tower. We did the 1.3 mile hike/walk around the tower. That was about all the kids could handle. They started complaining because it was a little hot, but they did really good. We got our postcards and smashed pennies and then headed back to the trailers. We fixed our lunch and ate on the grass before heading onward. 

We arrived at the Flintstone RV park about 6:00 p.m. The kids were so anxious to swim that we waited to eat dinner until after they were done swimming. All the kids wanted to do was swim and couldn't wait to get to a place that they could actually swim. I think we could have went on vacation to just a swimming pool and they would have been completely happy. 

June 16, 2012 - Day 5, Battle of the Big Horn, Custer's Last Stand

We decided at the last minute to take a different route to the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Originally I had planned for us to go from Cody to Sheridan and drop off the trailers and then go up to Battle of the Little Bighorn, but we figured it would save us an hour by going up into Montana first and stopping there and then head on to Sheridan. 

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which occurred on June 25 and 26, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory, was the most famous action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Gall, inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake). The U.S. Seventh Cavalry, including the Custer Battalion, a force of 700 men led by George Armstrong Custer, suffered a severe defeat. Five of the Seventh's companies were annihilated; Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count, including scouts, was 268 dead and 55 injured.

It was amazing to see and hear the story of the battle. I would have to say that Custer wasn't the brightest. A lot of brave men lost their lives that day.

We continued on to Sheridan and arrived there early evening. We set up camp and relaxed for a little bit. We got on the town trolley at 6:05 and rode around town. Sheridan is a cute town. At the end of the trolley route we got off at the Rib & Chop House and had a yummy dinner. The Trolley picked us back up at 9:00 and took us back to camp. We visited for a little bit and then went to bed.