Sat Sep 17 - off towards Sheridan Lake & Mt Rushmore

Sat Sep 17 Day 19 started out sunny but turned to rain in evening at Mt Rushmore
We left Mt View RV park in Sundance at 10:10 and drove a block to the gas station where we filled up at 144415 and out at 10:25. We changed drivers just outside of Deadwood at 11:20 at 144489; on down hwy 385 arriving at Sheridan lake forestry camp ground at 12:10 at 144547. We got a great spot beside & overlooking the lake. We had lunch & headed to Mt Rushmore in the car. It is about 19 miles from the campground to Mt Rushmore. We first stopped at the monument sculptor’s historical museum that was all about the life & work of Gutzon Borglum. He was an amazing sculptor, definitely the right man for the Rushmore project. While going down a dimly light hallway on the audio tour past various exhibits, (they were well light), Sheila managed to walk into a wall & bend her glasses, as well as getting a bump just above her right eye. When we came out about 4:30 it was raining. We then headed up to the monument itself. Sheila was hungry so we had early supper, I had a delicious buffalo stew but Sheila had the pot roast. Next we went up to the visitor centre for their movies & displays and to see the monument itself. Monument facts; the faces are 60 to 90 feet tall, that would be equivalent to a full size figure being 465 feet tall, the carving took 14 years to complete - Aug 1927 to Sept 1941 & actual work was for 78 months. Borglum died 6 months before completion, his son Lincoln put the finishing touches on. It is estimated that erosion will weather the carvings at the rate of 1/8th inch every 10,000 years. We stayed for the evening lighting program. Fortunately the rain held off for the program, a ranger talk on the Lewis & Clark expedition, a movie called “Freedom: America Lasting Legacy”, and then the lighting, it was a good show. We headed home about 9:00 in the dark, with the cloud, no moon or star light & driving secondary hwys, I think I would have never found the right roads without the GPS.