Our agenda for today did not include doing the laundry or shopping or other mundane stuff so we were free to explore the Black Hills. Our first foray to this beautiful area was into Custer State Park, southwest of our RV park near Rapid City.
We headed up US-16 for a bit before turning off onto US-16A and started up a skinny track called Iron Mountain Road. It is a unique road in that it has numerous one-lane tunnels, curlicue turns that have the road pass directly over itself and some single-lane one way sections. It would be a very challenging road for anybody wanting to go faster than about 25 miles per hour as shown by some idiot motorcycle driver who came around one of the hairpin corners in our lane and almost got to make a fast trip to the bottom of the canyon while correcting his path back into his lane. I gave him the finger. He could have scratched our truck and, since he would have been dead if I had not stopped, we might have had to repair it at our cost. We are unable to discern why a moron on a Harley would speed around a tight, blind corner in the oncoming traffic lane.
On the way up into Custer State Park, we kept getting glimpses of Mount Rushmore on the adjacent ridge. It is a very impressive carving. Fortunately, Donald Trump is not one of the presidents on this gorgeous sculpture. We finally entered the state park, took the Wildlife Loop Road and started seeing the myriad animals that have this gorgeous place as their home. Us elderly, nearsighted types spotted pronghorn antelope, solitary and herds of bison, some burros left over from a former business venture that ferried folks into this country prior to roads, prairie dogs and numerous deer. The surrounding scenery is spectacular including the massive rock formations and pinnacles that dot the landscape. We are delighted to be back in this wonderful part of the U.S.A.
We took a few pictures of our friends and you can see them if you click the asterisk *