Day 5: SOUTH DAKOTA

JEWEL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT

On the extreme cave tour you must be able to fit through this 17 1/2 x 24 inch hole...  Scott didn't even come close.  

We followed this vein throughout our tour and it got wider as we went deeper into the cave.

Nailhead Spar - most of Jewel Cave is made up of this rock formation.

Caramel Waterfall - the orange color is from the iron-oxide in the stone.

Jewel Cave was interesting but not as beautiful as other caves I've visited because it's a dry cave so we saw very few stalactites and stalagmites.  And we walked 723 stairs - whew!  Two brothers were out riding horses when they discovered the cave entrance in 1900 and now 170 miles of passageways have been mapped.  Scientists still go down in the cave for up to 4 days and continue to survey and map more area, about 3 miles per year.  If you discover a new room you get to name it!  Why only 4 days?  Because what you pack in, you must pack out, including your own waste.  YUCK!

CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL

Crazy Horse - the head is 87 1/2 feet tall!

CUSTER STATE PARK

We thought it was hilarious that the buffalo were found at the "Game Lodge".  

In this picture the police (white truck) are actually herding buffalo to get them off the road.  You could hear the policeman say over his PA system, "Now move along, sweetheart..."  It was too funny!

Along the road... Custer State Park is home to 1,500 North American bison.

Female with calf

Bull scratching himself on this tree.  Bulls can be 6 feet tall and weigh more than 2,000 pounds.

These pronghorn antelope crossed the road right in front of us.

This homely guy didn't know whether to cross the road or not - he just gave me a funny look!

Custer State Park in the Black Hills.  This was an awesome drive and we saw lots of animals; buffalo, deer, antelope, wild turkeys, and prairie dogs.  

MOUNT RUSHMORE AT NIGHT

Drove Iron Mountain to Mt. Rushmore to see the evening lighting ceremony.  It was very patriotic; at the end they asked servicemen to come up on the stage to be recognized - there must have been more than 50 people from all branches of the military.

Six state license plates today:  Illinois, Virginia, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania.