The
next day was beautiful. First we headed to
REPTILE GARDENS,
the world's largest collection of reptiles. They had lots of snakes,
including the inhabitants of "Death Row," the most venomous snakes in the
world. There was also a 200-lb Alligator-Snapping Turtle. He
was pretty boring, but impressive by his size alone. It was also my
first time to come face to face with several Galapagos Tortoises. It
was cool outside, so they were in their heated indoor area.
There was also a prairie dog habitat. They were calling across to each other as if they were saying, "People! People! Hide!" The center attraction was a large arboretum with approximately 40,000 flowers and orchids, several reptiles, exotic birds, and a few loose snakes. Our final stop at Reptile Gardens was the gift shop. We picked up some t-shirts and a few geodes.
Our
next stop was 
Next
we headed toward Mt Rushmore. There was a turnoff for Rushmore Cave.
We had seen dozens of billboards, so we decided to take a detour.
The caves were nice, but nothing stood out as spectacular.
Most of it consisted of passageways with one large room at the
end. We had seen better, but each cave has its own features. We
left quickly and went to Mt Rushmore. It was neat to see Mt Rushmore
in person. The mountain really speaks for itself. Most interesting
are the things that cannot be seen in the sculpture. For example:
About 95% of the sculpting was done by blasting with dynamite. Also,
did you know that Thomas Jefferson was originally supposed to be on George
Washington's right side? When it wasn't working out, his image was
blasted from the rock face and reblasted on Washington's left side.
Finally, the sculpture was originally planned to be waist-up sculptures.
However, the artist died before the Memorial was dedicated. His
son saw the completion of the project, but opted to leave the sculptures
as neck-up sculptures. We returned after dark for the evening lighting
ceremony. 
We took
a scenic drive between our two visits to Mt Rushmore. The road through
the rugged mountains was extremely steep and windy. One of the most
interesting road designs is a bridge network called the "Pigtail Bridges."
A way to reduce the grade of the climb was required so all vehicles
could make it up. The pigtail design was laughed at and it was said
the plan would never work. Given the fact that heavy RVs with trailers
climb this area every day, I'd say it was quite successful. Our main
reason for making the tour was to see how the tunnels "frame" Mt
Rushmore. 
We
were unable to see Wind and Jewel Caves in our planned stay. All
hotels were already booked for Memorial Day weekend. Therefore, we
couldn't extend our stay. Instead, we packed up the car and made a
drive to Wind Cave. We were able to leave the cats in the car during
the tour. Wind Cave is the 8th largest (known) cave in the world.
Other than its size, I was relatively unimpressed. The only items
of interest were the "Box Formations." These formations (pictured)
are very rare. In fact, it is estimated that Wind Cave has about 90%
of the world's box formations. After touring Wind Cave we drove to
Jewel Cave National Park.
We detoured
along the way to see Devil's Tower in WY, made famous by the motion picture
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind." We stopped, took photos, and
visited the gift shop near the base of the tower. Indian legend says
that Devil's Tower was formed when a great bear chased a group of Indian
children. The children stopped on top of a large rock and prayed for
the rock to protect them. The rock sprouted to its current 1200+ feet,
saving the children. The grooves in Devil's Tower were made by the
bear as he attempted to climb Devil's Tower. The bear left when he
had no more claws. I'm sure the children died of starvation and exposure to the elements since they didn't bring their repelling equipment. ;-) 
Driving on, we stopped
in Sheridan, WY after my body said "Enough!" I had developed a head
and chest cold and the long days had finally caught up with me. We
got a good night's sleep and made it to Helena by 4:30 yesterday... one day
late. Our plan is to get rested and meet the family. We'll continue
our tour on Tuesday.
E-mail Us