What a great day. Launched out of Rapid City around 0745 and headed North to Sturgis, another check on my bucket list. Certainly not as wild as the annual motorcycle ride In but that's what I wanted. I just wanted to say I had been there. It is a beautiful area in the Black Hills of SD. I rode around the town and it was a neat little town. Then I headed for the back roads and down Vanocker Canyon heading to Mt. Rushmore. What a change after riding three days across the plains of SD now I was back to riding mountains like TN and KY. I stopped and took some pictures at Pactola Lake, just beautiful. 
Then I pressed on to Mount Rushmore. As you approach the park there is an opportunity to stop and take a picture of the profiles of the president which I did. Once you get to the gates you realize you are in a national park. There is no charge to enter the park but you have to pay an annual parking fee. How lucky I am, now when I get back to NC I can come back out to visit Mount Rushmore as many time as I want for a year without additional charges. Hurrah!!!! As soon as I get back I will start planning my next trip because I want to take full advantage of the $10 dollar fee for one year availability. Mount Rushmore is really awesome. If you look at the Presidents with binoculars you can see the Presidents eyes looking directly at you. I didn't want to leave so I went to a restaurant on site and this is the second time today I noticed this was a government facility. I ordered a Buffalo hot dog and what I got was a $6.75 hot dog. But it was great just being there.
Next I rode about 17 miles south and visited the Crazy Horse monument. It was good to see but is a very long way from being finished. From there it was a short ride, 38 miles to my motel in Hot Springs SD. Tonight I went next door to a nice little restaurant and had a Buffalo steak. It was tasty although a little tough and will not cause me to give up beef. All in all it was a really good day and now I must plan my day for tomorrow.
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