Hill City, South Dakota, United StatesQuality Inn Near Mount Rushmore
| 616 Main St, Hill City, SD, US |
| 1-605-574-2100 |
I wonder what I ate.
I woke up at 3:30 am, then 4:30, and then again around 6:30, got up at 6:45 and did the usual. Went down for breakfast - it wasn't bad - I put chilly sauce on the scrabled eggs, took some so-so potatoes, but the biscuit was good and so was the OJ. I took two small Danish for later on, but when I ate them for lunch, they were already stale, but the coffee from the machine in the room that I put in my thermos was good. So much for breakfast food.
Since I realized that the Spearfish Canyon Scenic By-Way would be my route to Crazy Horse, I took I-90 to Spearfish. I got off at the college exit and had to find my way to the road leading to Crazy Horse. What a vibrant downtown there was with lots of new buildings. I wondered how the town was originally settled. I also thought about Eric, Al and Eric's family. It would have been nice to get in touch but the timing was all wrong since it was around 11 am when I hit Spearfish. I had only realized that I would be coming this close last night when I looked at the map.
I took the Spearfish Canyon road and explored several of the pull-outs. There were some nice little waterfalls, lots of fantastic cliffs, some brilliant yellow leaves on the cottonwoods, and cyclists galore. I was careful not to run any of them over. The road was a fairly serious uphill grade. I called to two cyclists - who turned out to be women of my age - at least judging by the wrinkles - but they were in top shape pedallling up those hills. One had moved from downstate NY to Colorado and wore a Yankees jersey. She said she had to work hard to keep up with her friend who cut our conversation short by saying she was getting too hot standing and gabbing. I was quite impressed by them. There were lots of other cyclists as well. And motorcyclists. My last stop was at a picnic area. When I took the little dirt road into it, I was faced by a road with huge craters and a motorcycle on its side with the motorcyclists trying to right it. I tried to move around them without killing them and they got it back upright - the woman said it was all her fault and moved their picnic stuff off the nearest table so that I could enjoy my little picnic of coffee and stale danish there.
I later snacked on some of the leftover potato salad.
After the canyon, I seemed to be on a plateau with closely cropped or otherwise low grass. I followed the scenic route up and down and around the curves. Sometimes it had a nice flow and sometimes was a little slow and labored. The terrain changed - I thought that the Black Hills were not dissilimar from the Adirondacks with mountian roads, mix of deciduous and evergreen trees and some rock cliffs. But I think their mountains are higher - I think I saw an elevation of over 7k feet.
I followed a mix of GPS and maps to get to the Crazy Horse Memorial. By this time, there was a 4 lane highway and a curious bumping and whining that made me fear for more car damage, but the noises went away with different roads. I entered the Crazy Horse grounds by way of the Highway of the Chiefs - or something like that. As soon as I entered the museum, I heard that the movie would start in 7 minutes, so I found the restroom and then waited for the video to begin. I have a new hero: Korczak Ziolkowski.
The sculptor who designed and started the Crazy Horse Memorial was of Polish descent. He had been living in Boston and won a prize for sculpture which prompted Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota to ask him to design and sculpt a monument to Crazy Horse as a symbol for all of the indigenous peoples of North America or maybe both North and South. The sculptor spoke with a strong Boston accent. He accepted the commission and also took it on as his life's work and dedicated himself to promoting the indigenous peoples and trying to right the wrongs done to them. The video showed him at work - he did everything: built roads, built buildings, dynamited the mountains and carried tools and bags of dynamite up the mountain - hanging on by a rope with one hand. A young woman Ruth Ross had volunteered to help with the project and eventually she married Korczak and they had 10 children who all worked on the project while they grew up. As an old lady, she was still the CEO of the foundation and she even looked like an old Polish woman but I don't think she was Polish. Some of the children into the 4th generation now are still involved. Both he and his wife are buired on the land here. It is a tribute not only to the native American spirit and way of life but also to the dedication and hard work of the immigrants who came to this country to better their lives and in this case, to better the lives of those wronged - by previous immigrants.
I went through THE INDIAN MUSEUM OF NORTH AMERICA and then bought some postcards and a little book on the project.
When I asked the clerk where I could see the monument closer up, she said only by taking the bus ride. So I took the bus ride - for 4 dollars. I had to wait 20 minutes for the next bus, so I went to the car, unloaded my purchases, ate some potato salad and came back down to the growing line. By the time I got on the bus, there were only a few seats left on the drivers side. I was 3rd from the back. We got off on one stop to see the front of Crazy Horse's face and when I got on, someone else had taken the seat I had been sitting in. Huh? Against all rules of bus riding etiquette!
In the parking lot, I checked for hotels nearby and booked one supposedly not far from Mount Rushmore. Somehow I took a wrong turn and instead of having me turn around, Waze took me in a giant circle and then took me to a blocked something J Ranch Road. By that time I was very worried I would be driving in the dark - I had already had a close call when blinded by the sun - so I was near hysteria. I called the hotel and the clerk put me on hold for ages. She might have googled the directions. It was all very confusing. But then when she finally gave me directions, all I had to do is turn around and drive for about 6 minutes to get to the hotel. I think I had been past it at least once. I had been up Mt Rushmore in my pursuit of the hotel as well. It was a huge diversion. Waze now has a disconcerting habit of not telling you to turn around but takes you miles out of the way to make only left or right turns.
Finally I got to the Quality Inn - Hill City. I have a second floor room close to the back door. No elevators here but otherwise a very nice hotel/motel for the price. I went in search of food down Main Street but no quick take-out offerings. I came back to the gas station convenience store next door but their food options were very limited. I got a burrito and some snacks, ate the snacks, drank an IPA and have not yet been able to face the burrito.
That may be it - I am very tired tonight.
2025-05-22