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vickisventures · 4 years

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Mt. Rush(what’s the rush?)more

I am so disappointed and irritated! We had really hyped ourselves up to go see Mount Rushmore. I knew in advance that the Visitor Center, Avenue of Flags and a small portion of the Presidential Trail was closed due to COVID and renovations. I was prepared for that, but Dennis had gone just last week and had hiked to the base of the memorial using the Nature Trail and the open portion of the Presidential Trail. We knew that the parking fee was $10. I had done my research. So off we go yesterday to see this great work of art. Upon arrival, we were happy to see that there weren’t a gagillion tourists. We walked up to the entrance after parking and saw that the bookstore and ice cream shop was open (as the website said.). We took some pics and headed toward the Sculpture Studio. A lady was giving a talk at a small viewpoint area about the park and land. We went on to the studio and another ranger was giving a talk about the sculpture. We decided to go ahead and hike before it got any hotter but had trouble finding the trail. We decided to ask a ranger and he said it was closed due to preparation for the Independence Day celebration. SAY WHAT?!? I didn’t see any posting about that anywhere. The guy said he realized that and apologized. We were (and still are) really upset with the park administration. There were a lot of upset people. We could have chosen any day/week between May and October to go and we picked a day that they decided to close all of the trails without warning. I am trying to get a free parking pass for a return visit (or a refund) but I’m not going to hold my breath that they even care. We plan to return when my parents and sister come in July, but we had hoped to see what the hike was like before they arrived. We did get some nice pics and listened to 2 ranger talks before heading back to pay our $10 parking fee and heading to Keystone for lunch. One ranger talk was rather thought provoking. The ranger had done a lot of reading and research on the topic of Indian tribes in the U.S. He talked about the mistreatment of the Indians back in the day of Custer and about how the government destroyed the buffalo population so they would remove the food supply for the Indians. He told of the government sterilizing all Indian women 15-25 so that the Indians would cease to exist. He was very passionate about his feelings about the U.S. vs the Indians. Apparently a lot of money sits in the treasury that the Indians in South Dakota could have but if they take even $1 of it, they will be accepting the sale of the land and they refuse to do that. So the money just sits. The ranger postulated that they Indians just want respect and recognition; not money. And they want their land back. I understand his viewpoint, but I also don’t completely agree with him. I agree that the Indians were mistreated and had their land taken away from them and were forced to live in reservations. I do not agree that the government was 100% at fault for the situation that resulted in them being forced into reservations. I know everyone has differing opinions on this and that’s ok. The other ranger talk was more about how the monument was created. I didn’t realize that the monument wasn’t ever completed. Apparently, they ran out of money and Gutzon Borglum (the mastermind) died before he could attain more funds so they just did what they could with the remaining money and quit. So, I guess the trip wasn’t a complete bust but for people living on a budget, the lack of updated park information didn’t allow us to make an informed decision on when to go.

We had stopped briefly in Keystone on our train ride and it looked Iike a cute town, so we wanted to go back. Mount Rushmore is very close to Keystone, so we decided to head there next. We were a little disappointed there too. It has several pizza places, a few other eating establishments and some touristy shops but that’s about it. The Rushmore Borglum Story museum is closed right now due to COVID but most everything else was open. We walked from the top of the town to the bottom. Our lunch was so-so. I had read that the food was expensive there for what you got. The picture of Steve on the wooden motorcycle is at a place where they do chainsaw art in Keystone. We do want to go back because we can get a free 18 course mini golf ticket, a free ticket to the presidential wax museum, and a free pass to a place that has an alpine slide, ski lift, zip line and ropes type course. We plan to check all of those places out in time.

Monday. we went on our bi-weekly expedition to Rapid City to go to Walmart. We decided to run to Kohl’s and the mall for a bit as well. It was so nice to go into a mall and do some shopping. We haven’t really done much “shopping” since we went full-time but it’s one thing when you choose not to and another when you can’t. About ½ of the stores at the mall were still closed but we were able to get what we needed to.

Next week is 4th of July week. We are still getting calls for reservations and we are still full. We are selling sites that we don’t usually sell; so our next work week will be a busy one. We aren’t sure how we got so lucky as to have ALL of the summer holidays fall on our work days this year!

Steve has solidified his plans to drive for a company in North Dakota for the month of October. He will be delivering sugar beets to a processing plant. We decided to do this instead of working at a processing plant or have Steve drive for a farmer. He will instead be working for a trucking company which he thinks will give him a chance to ease into the trucking business before we get back to Arizona where he plans to work full-time for Knight Transportation. He will work 5 on, 1 off, 12-hour days while in North Dakota. We have reservations at a campground there and I hold down the fort while he works that month. After that we plan to check out our land in Colorado and spend a couple of days in Amarillo going to doctor appointments before heading to Arizona. I just found out that my niece won’t be playing college softball next school year after all due Arizona running scared and closing down sports programs. I know this is a sore subject for people and another area where there are varying opinions but I think it’s DUMB. It’s time to get on with life and get back to normal. Let the virus run its course and let’s stop worrying about masks and social distancing. I have heard that Arizona has had a number of new cases recently. From what I’ve seen, Arizona has been fairly strict on their following the pandemic guidelines so why are they having issues when other states aren’t? I wonder if that’s more due to the number of elderly people who live there than a loosening of restrictions. I did make sure that my job at the RV resort in Arizona is secure no matter what happens with the pandemic in the fall. My boss said there will be plenty for me to do not matter what. That made me feel better.

As I mentioned earlier, my sister has decided to fly in and join us while mom and dad are here visiting. We also learned this week that Steve’s brother and sister-in-law are going to bring their RV up here to Big Pine Campground in September for a visit/vacation. Looking forward to our company in this beautiful place!

#full time rving #mt rushmore #south dakota #workamping

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