Crazy Horse Memorial

 Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Once I was awake enough to figure out the Keurig coffee maker, my day began. My usual routine is to enjoy a cup of coffee, read my daily Bible devotions and then tackle the Wordle puzzle. My youngest son and I have a little competition over Wordle and it always feels good to solve the puzzle in less steps than him. This time we tied at 4 tries each (he texts me his results each morning). I figure anything less than 5 is not bad so I was happy.

While I can easily spend an hour with my coffee, Bob is on the go from the moment he gets out of bed. Today he was out the door and headed up a mountain within a few minutes. With only one bathroom in the apartment, it is nice to have him leave so I can get ready easily. By the time he returned I was showered and dressed and we ate breakfast together. Not only had he walked to the top of a very tall hill (mountain?) he carried down a piece of rose quartz he found that weighed at least 30 pounds. 

The Crazy Horse Memorial wasn't too far away from where we were staying and we have driven by it many times. The monument is totally visible from the highway so I always wondered why we should pay the entrance fee just to see it at a little closer range. But Bob is interested in Native American history so I figured maybe we should check it out.

Rock formations line the highway towards Custer. 

Entrance drive to Crazy Horse Memorial

It was around 10 am when we arrived at the entry gates. The cost was $30 for a car with two people to enter but the fee allowed us to return anytime within a three day period for no extra cost. Luck was on our side when we found a single empty parking spot right by the front door in an otherwise very crowded lot. As we walked into the visitor center the greeter informed us that a movie had just begun in the theater. We found seats and watched a video that explained the history of the Crazy Horse project which is celebrating its 75th year anniversary this year. In all of those decades only the face and part of the hand have been completed on the carving.

I had anticipated that we might spend an hour and a half...maybe two hours at most looking at the exhibits at the memorial. But by the time we walked to our car that afternoon nearly five hours had passed. We both came away totally impressed with the quality of the art work and historical artifacts on display. 

View of Crazy Horse carving through the windows.

The model vs. the carving...a long way until it is completed.

Crazy Horse is crazy big!

A zoomed in view:  The trucks and other equipment give some perspective on the size!

We were also able to enjoy a Native American flute concert by Darren Thompson. Bob wanted to ask some questions about the construction of his flutes (all were handmade) so we visited with him after the concert. 

When we mentioned that we are acquaintances of Paul LaRoche of the Native American band, Brulé, he laughed and said he used to be their opening act. (Paul's background story is quite unique!)

Driving back to the AirBnB apartment, we stopped at the tiny town of Pringle. On the side of the highway is a "bike sculpture" or at least that is what it claims to be. It looks more like a junk pile, but I guess it can be called an interesting roadside attraction.

There are walking tunnels through this pile of old bikes.

I can't even begin to guess how many bikes are in this pile.

Back at the apartment I had some quiet time and Bob...well you can guess what he did. Bob went for a hike in the hills. Dinner was early and then we were back on the road to Crazy Horse again. For the past 17 years the Legends in Light laser show has been presented each evening at dark. The show turns the mountain into a giant 500 foot screen for the laser display featuring colorful animations, sound effects and laser beams choreographed to music.

The show can be viewed from the outdoor courtyard at the memorial or from the upper level of the parking area. With the chilly evening, we chose the latter and watched the show from our car. There were speakers in the parking lot so we were able to hear the music and narration.

Driving back in the dark was just a bit stressful...we saw so many deer (like dozens!). Because I was so concerned about hitting a deer I decided our initial plans for seeing the evening program at Mt. Rushmore on another night were not going to happen. We will stick to driving in daylight.