 |
| A lovely sunrise this morning.....this is a really nice campsite in a very pleasant "gulch'" not surprised that Custer camped in the area.... We are just a few miles from the Crazy Horse Memorial.....this is a "work in progress" and will be the World's largest mountain carving when it is finished......sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski arrived in The Black Hills in 1947 to begin work on the project which is privately funded....he died in 1982 but his family continue to work on the memorial.... |
 |
| The first blasting was in 1948 taking of just 10 tons of rock....millions of tons have since been removed ... |
 |
| The silhouette here is a portrayal of the finished sculpture.... |
 |
| And onto Hill City for the main event for today...a 2 hour trip through The Black Hills on a historic vintage diesel train...one of my personal favourite things... |
 |
| Our open box car.... |
 |
| A lonely mule deer....yes we have discovered that the deer with the long ears are mule deer which is actually obvious if you think about it !!!! |
 |
| The track criss-crosses the road 40 times on route to Keystone and back and "hoots' at everyone...we learnt today that the train whistle at a crossing is 2 long 1 short and 1 long which is Morse Code for the letter Q, according to our guide this was originally to convey that the Queen was on board and she has the right of way, quite rightly too !! Old mine buildings and small communities are still visible along the route as the railroad was originally built for the mining business.. |
 |
| Lovely scenery and a very nice area, some really large properties one for sale, 15 acres with a rental dwelling....ummm..... |
 |
| And Back To The Future !! Not seen one of these for some years..... A good day out and our song for today and while we are here has to be of course The Black Hills of Dakota...the lovely Doris Day..90 years young this past April... |
Hi Sue & Michael,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous train ,you must have had a great time.
Any idea when the Crazy Horse monument is due for completion?
Once again you are expanding my knowledge, and increased my Morse code repertoire. Reminds me must phone Mr Bloor.
Lovely evening here just about to have Barbie and a drink, whilst keeping an eye on the footie.
Who`s Doris Day?
Only joking.
Keep on trucking.
Cheers,
Ann & Dave
Yes it was another great day.....
DeleteRe Crazy Horse...Mr Yorkieman being the cynic he is says it won't be !!! Have to say he has a point as it was started in 1947 and it seems time and funding has been diverted to the huge complex of the museum and gift shop...watch this space as they say...
We hope you managed to have your BBQ and a few drams... beef liver and onions on the BBQ for us...
Cheers
The Happy Campers :0