Rainbolts on the Road: Devil's Tower, Sturgis, and the Mt. Rushmore area

On the trail

Going down into Jewel Cave

A donkey checking out the Rainbolt family

Crazy Horse

So, the past few days were really jammed packed. After leaving Cody, we maed it to Devil's Tower. We got there around 8 and we headed up but it started sprinkling. We weren't sure if a storm was coming in or just a few drops but since it was a bit late anyway, we headed back to camp (turns out it wasn't much at all). The next morning, we headed up and walked around. At the bottom of the hill was a huge prairie dog town. It was so close to the road and there were holes all over. We really got to see them close up. After a little while, we got back in the RV and drove to our campsite at Mount Rushmore. On thee way, we stopped in Sturgis. It was the beginning of the motorcycle Rally, so we got out to walk around. Andrew LOVED it. Many of the streets were closed and there were motorcycles parked everywhere. Andrew and Ally had Sturgis shirts on, so they fit in pretyy well with the crowd; I'd guess about 95% of the people were in some sort of HArley gear or some other sort of motorcycle wear. It was LOUD and CROWDED. But it was definitely interesting and pretty unique. As we left, we kept seeing bikes all around us on the road and when we got to our campsite, there were some bikers there too. We had something to eat and decided to go to Mt. Rushmore that night. We got there when it was still light but stayed until sunset. They had a park ranger speak and then a short movie about it and then it was lit up. It was very nice. The next day was a very busy one. After breakfast, we went horseback riding. Ally could not wait. We were in a group and went out for about an hour and 20 minutes. We saw some deer on the way. Everyone did a great job with their horses. Not surprisingly, Ally declared this her favorite thing of the trip and has been asking how you could have a horse on Staten Island! After riding the horses, we drove to Jewel Caves where we went down into the caves. It was a ranger led hike so we got to see and learn a lot. On our way back, we rode through Custer State Park where we saw donkeys and more buffalo. The donkeys come right up to the car; one tried to stick his head in bur Rob rolled up the window before it could make it in! And the last stop on the day (yes, this is still the same day!) was to the Crazy Horse monument. Although my view was not good last visit (ha, ha!!!) you can tell that they have made progress. They have pictures showing the monument at different stages since it began over 50 years ago. We finally made it back to the campsite where before bed, some nighttime mini golf was played. THEN, it was bedtime!!
Devil's Tower