Morning musings:
In an effort to not be the camper that irritated me
yesterday morning, I am sitting quietly in the tent typing. We’re going to head westward today but its
only 7 a.m. and not quite time to break camp.
Realized when we left our tent this morning that new campers came in
late last night…they were respectful of the fact that other campers were
sleeping and set up quietly. So we’re waiting until they peek their heads out
before we get serious about packing up. While
we could break camp quietly, our departure on two motorcycles would be noticed.😜
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Woke up just before 7 a.m. to
a light drizzle…the kind where you wonder if there’s really anything coming
down until you step outside the tent and verify that yes, something wet is
falling from the sky. To find the bright
side I could say ‘Well, at least it’s not snow!’ Temperature didn’t feel too bad…no worse than
yesterday so I’m guessing in the mid-50’s, maybe higher. Phones have proven to be a little confused
about the weather here at camp so they don’t provide any more information than
just stepping outside does. However,
we’ve heard that it’s supposed to warm up again…like in the 90’s warm. It’s
only 8 a.m., so there’s plenty of time for that to happen. J
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We’re camped just a short walk
from the bathroom, which we prefer.
Yesterday the cleaning crew was in there for over 3 hours…we had to walk
up to the office to use the facilities there, not convenient but doable. When we got back from our ride-about
yesterday, Kim headed right to the bathroom and came right back reporting that
the bathroom was locked up and closed for the season. WHAT?! No bathroom?? There are still people camping out here! The campground closes in two weeks and they
couldn’t wait? But I immediately came up
with a workable plan in case a need arose in the middle of the night…there’s a
picnic table 12 feet from our tent and it could be put into play under the cover of
darkness. 😏
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Evening Update:
Had about a 2 hour ride to
the Black Hills area of South Dakota…it was cloudy and hovering at a humid 70o
until we got to Hill City. Then the sun came out and the temperature shot
up into the humid 80’s.
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There is so much to do and
see in this area. We’ve been out here
several times and there are key places we want to visit that we’ve seen
before. Sort of like re-reading a
favorite book. Riding through Custer
State Park, visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial and standing in awe of the Heads
are all on our must-do list. Anything
else we fit in will just be bonus material.
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We ate lunch in Hill City
then continued on toward the town of Custer, where we had reservations at the
Custer KOA. When we realized that the
Crazy Horse Memorial was on the way, we pulled in. Kim is not as taken with the Crazy Horse
carving as I am…in the 3 times we’ve been here in the last 7 years, he doesn’t
think there’s been any progress. I
first visited Crazy Horse back in 1992…there was only a very rough outline of
his face at that time. His face and
forehead are fully now visible. The space between his outstretched arm and the
horse’s head has also been opened up.
Currently progress is being made in the blasting away of the mountain so
the details of his body, arm and horse can be chiseled from the rock, same as
it was for his head/face. I can line up
the pictures I’ve taken over the years and there will be some subtle evidence
of progress but in this day of instant gratification, people expect to see the progress from day to day.
Blasting away a mountain to reveal the figure within is slow work, especially
when it’s being privately funded not government funded. I’m sure those doing
the work up on the mountain cringe when they hear people say that it doesn’t look any different
than it did 5 years ago. Anyway, the
Crazy Horse Memorial fascinates me because it’s being actively carved/worked on
during my lifetime…Mt. Rushmore was a done deal long before I was born so I
have only seen the finished product. It
would have been fascinating to watch the Heads being carved also. Carving a mountain takes time and I don’t
think Crazy Horse will be completed in my lifetime but I’ll continue to visit
whenever I’m in the area.
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A real highlight of the afternoon started when we
got back to our bikes in the Crazy Horse parking lot. A family from India (dad, mom, 3 year old
daughter and mom’s sister) arrived at the car parked next to us just after we
reached our bikes. The little girl
noticed Moxie on the back of Zeus, then Bendy Man on the mirror and smiling, she couldn’t take her
eyes off me as she was buckled into her car seat. Since I was wearing my helmet I can’t
discount the fact that maybe she thought I was a friendly alien of some
sort. We both saw an opportunity to give
away one of the Beanie Babies we carry with us so Kim asked if it was
okay. In the meantime, Dad wanted to
take a picture of Bendy Man on my mirror and as I was talking to him I became
aware that the mom, sister and Kim were all back over by his bike and just that
quick, mom was wearing Kim’s vest and the sister was taking her picture. Then Kim offered to let her sit on the bike…by
that time we were all snapping pictures because she was so excited. Then the sister
wanted to pose with Kim and then both of us and suddenly the mom was in the
picture, too. As soon as they got a
signal, I’m sure some of those pictures hit social media. 😉We talked with them
for a bit…they were curious: how long
have I been riding, where do we stay at night, are we ever scared of other
bikers, were our bikes Harley Davidsons and finally does Kim wear that knife on
his belt for protection. He explained
his affinity for sharp things and that no, he normally doesn’t wear one on his
belt but that he usually carries one in his pocket. They introduced themselves and all I caught
for sure was Siri, the little girl’s name and the sister’s name sounded like
Bono…of U2 fame, although I’m sure it isn’t spelled the same.
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This area is crazy busy with
motorcycle traffic. Can’t imagine what
it would be like during the Sturgis bike week.
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Wandered around the gift shop
at the memorial and came across Randy Price, an artist who turns coins into
unique jewelry using only a jeweler’s saw.
When I asked how long he’s been doing this kind of work, he said that he
took a class years back and from that point it was a matter of just doing it to
get better. With a smile, he then said he’ll
be there soon, that he’s invested 42 years in getting better. 😊 I bought a necklace and of course, I asked if
I could take his picture. He sat down at his work table, grabbed his saw and
the necklace then posed like he’s had his picture taken a time or two. The cut coin jewelry available at the
memorial is created solely by Randy and he donates a portion of what he earns to
the Crazy Horse project.
And in case there's any question about legality, InVogueJewelry.blogspot.com
references the following regulation from the U.S. Mint:
Section 331 of Title 18 of the
United States code provides criminal penalties for anyone who fraudulently
alters, defaces, mutilates impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens
any of the coins coined at the Mints of the United States. This statute means that you may
be violating the law if you change the appearance of the coin and
fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin that it is. As
a matter of policy, the Mint does not promote coloring, plating or altering
U.S. coinage: however, there are no sanctions against such activity absent
fraudulent intent. (This was information was also on display at Randy’s work area.)
The
InVogueJewelry blog goes on with this explanation: So what this is
saying is that it's illegal to alter coins for the intention of defrauding
someone; for example, making a quarter look like a dollar, or changing the date
on an old coin to one that is more rare and valuable. And there are no
sanctions against coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage.
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Small Town of the Day: Hill City…population 948
Hill City is sort of a default winner because it is the only town/city
we encountered today that had a population sign. Our route from Interior to the Black Hills
area was along SD-44 again and there were no towns until we hit the outer
limits of Rapid City.
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Saturday miles: 124 miles
Total miles: 1,477
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