Badlands - by Craig

Crazy horse monument with crazy admission

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Hi all!  Today was a busy day.  First we headed out to the new "Crazy Horse" Monument, a native monument being carved into a mountain which is still under construction.  It was cool so see, but they wanted 20 bucks to go right up to it.  Rushmore was only 8 bucks, which is complete, so this seemed like a bit of a raw deal for 20.  Anyway we didn't go in but were still able to see it really well from the gate.  Then we had to drive right by Rushmore again, which was free to get in with our pass from the day before, so we went in again to see it in better daylight and do the hike right up to the faces.  Very cool!!!  Next it was off to do some caving, in "Beautiful Rushmore Cave".  The power went out just before we went down into the cave, which had left many visitors stranded down there!!  Anyway, it came back on shortly after, and we did our tour.  I decided to bring my own flashlight!! 

Craig in a cave

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Then we drove to Rapid City, visited a few western shops in my constant search for a cowboy hat, and had an awesome lunch at a brewpub called the Firehouse Pub.  Then we drove about 1.5 hrs to our campsite for the night, just outside of Badlands National Park.  Cool drive!  More to come!

Craig