Day 39 - 3 fancy rocks in one single day....

I think 'drive lag' is beginning to set in on our journey. After forgetting our pillows at a motel a couple of days ago and leaving a box at an unknown motel god knows when - this morning we were on our way to Mt Rushmore when we realised we had left the atlas back at the motel! That was not the worst thing - we turned around, drove back to the motel, then when we got there we found it in the back of the car - I mean how do you lose something in a car?! and the size of an atlas!!!

The bad weather from yesterday had well and truly buggered off, which was fantastic! It was back to blue sky's and sunshine, so off we rocked onwards to Mt Rushmore (for the 3rd time!)

Mt Rushmore is a sculpture chipped into a mountain side of 4 of Americas presidents - (from left to right) - Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. It was started in 1927 and was finished in 1941 and cost just under $1m to construct. That's your history lesson for the day!



This is the chap that lead the team who sculpted the heads (each head is approx 60ft high by the way)



A mere 20 miles or so down the road is the still under construction, homage to a red Indian legend 'Crazy Horse'. The red Indians asked one of the key sculptures of the Mt Rushmore monument to create a homage to their great warlord - his name was Korczak Ziolkowski and he began work in 1948 - on his own!!!! The final sculpture will be approx 650feet high - the tallest of its kind in the world - taller than any pyramid on the planet - only problem is they have no idea when it will be done - so don't put a date in your diary just yet....

This is how the sculpture will look when finished - Crazy Horse is pointing to "My lands are where my dead lie buried", as he was supposed to have said....

Ziolkowski sadly died in 1982 but his legacy to build this sculpture lives on with his family. They will not accept any government assistance (despite 2 offers of over $10m). Ziolkowski felt the sculptures broader educational and cultural messages would be left behind with government involvement - what a guy! Here he is below - great beard too!

With 2 rocks down we still had enough time in the day to tick off another of my 'wish list' of this tour. A visit to the Devil's Tower monument just inside Wyoming. This was Americas first ever national monument but was not really famous until Stephen Spielberg's 'Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind' made it so.

It is truly an odd sight the tower - it looks like something Darth Vader would live in with Mrs Vader and their little imperial kids. This is the view from the other side - can you see the difference?!....

The tower has its own little eco-system and is full of life. Golden and Bald eagles circle the top of the monstrosity and on the ground deer and the hilariously funny Prairie Dogs roam around squeaking and playing in the sunshine.

So that's it for another day! We squeezed a lot in today due to yesterday's weather interruption. Tomorrow we have another day of all driving. We are going to cross North Dakota and head towards Fargo. Bismark is on the way so we may call in there. Until tomorrow....