Had a wonderful long night's sleep at the Holiday Inn, Custer and we even booked in again for a second night. They serve a beautiful breakfast (as the Manifolds eat their way across America) consisting of bacon, eggs, cereal, cinnamon rolls, bagels, muffins and much more. We set off firstly to the Jewel Cave and then headed back to the township of Keystone which is at the foothills of Mt Rushmore. It was a very scenic route along highway 16A. We saw lakes, fir trees, mountain lodges, and we were even stopped by 2 bison grazing along the side of the road and then strolling across the road in front of us. It was a wonder to see.
And speaking of wonders, our first glimpse of Mt Rushmore and the Presidents’ faces’ was through a tiny tunnel or stone archway and it was an absolutely spectacular sight. We were so excited that we stopped the car on the side of the road to take some truly magnificent photos. We will speak of Mt Rushmore again later.
We headed to Keystone for lunch and then went to the Big Thunder Gold Mine and went on an underground tour through the Gold Mine. The two fellows who originally owned this mine worked in it for thirty – five years on nights and weekends as a hobby. Luckily, these fellows had day jobs because they only found 15 oz of gold during the 35 years which equates to 6 thousand dollars in today’s market! After the tour, JR panned for gold and fond 4 gold flecks and a couple of really cool gems ( 1 x Tigereye, 4 x amethyst, and others).
Next we went to Rushmore Cave and took in a 1 hour tour. Our tour guide was called Sam and she was a very mature 15 year old local school girl. It was a fairly narrow path during different stages in the tour. Allie missed hitting Headache Rock but a hard hat would have helped with some of the others.
That night, we went to the Mt Rushmore memorial to watch and listen to the amazing light show.It was a very moving experience (especially for the American spectators) and was really wonderful to see the presidents lit up at night. The ceremony ended with the playing of The American National Anthem “The Star Spangled Banner”.
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