The Famous "Heads"...

Tuesday morning found us leaving Cody Wyoming bright and early headed toward South Dakota.  The road took us across the Rocky mountains for the last time, a beautiful crossing it was.  We stopped at the pass to climb up and look around, the sweet smell of flowers was in the air from the many alpine varieties in bloom.

At the top of the pass crossing the Rockies

We arrived at Custer State Park and our campground in time to set up before we headed to Mt Rushmore.  Custer is in the heart of the Black Hills, home to the Needles highway that winds through the mountains.  The road has numerous 1 way tunnels carved through the rock; the rock formations make for a very scenic ride.

The Needle Rock

One of many tunnels on the Needles Hwy

We arrived at Mt Rushmore for the evening, anticipating the history presentation, video, and witnessing them turning the lights on the faces after dark.  They found a way to bypass our National Parks pass by charging us $15 to park... I was annoyed.

We enjoyed our time there, the history and story behind the carving of the mountains was interesting.  The evening presentation was well done... it would be our recommendation to see Mt Rushmore at night, it adds an interesting perspective.  We left there with a greater appreciation for the 4 men who are immortalized on the mountain... and of the opinion Reagan should one day be added...

Devan was stressed that this was our last night camping and we had not had a campfire to do smores.  Usually our schedule was tight enough that were too tired to start a fire.  We headed back to camp via the Needles hwy (almost kissing a rock with the Yukon on a sharp curve), made it to camp by 10, started a fire and enjoyed smores... a fitting end to our camping adventures.