Visited the South Dakota Air Museum and took a short tour of Ellswoth Air Force Base. Got to go down into a Minuteman Missile Silo and see a training version of a missile command bunker. The engineering is pretty amazing, though the technology was circa 1964 analog solid state electronics- yikes. The bomb bay doors weigh 90 tons (ninety TONS!) and are opened by a gas piston that can open the doors in three seconds.

We then headed for Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial.

While quite impressive in and of itself, Mount Rushmore can fit into the crook of the arm at the still un-finished Crazy Horse monument. Talk about a testament to one man’s obsession. Mount Rushmore is a relief carving on a mountain side. Crazy Horse is a sculpture in the round being carved from an entire mountain.

We have a rock from the Crazy Horse demolition for Jane’s rock collection.

On the drive back to the hotel, we accidentally took the very dramatic Needles highway through Custer State Park. A scenic but VERY curvy and VERY winding road through the Black Hills. Urp.