Spent Sunday night at Mount Rushmore. When we arrived at the monument, it was close enough to dinnertime to enjoy the pleasure of eating on a patio under the heads of four of our great presidents. We are learning that our government doesn't spare the horses when it comes to our national parks. When we were in Korea years ago, the tour guide refered to the things we saw as "national treasures". I think we as Americans also refer to the special wonders in our nation as national treasures. We call them national parks, but we care for them as treasures and we treat people that visit them as royalty.

We were served huge portions of trout and two sides with a wheat roll. I chose carrots and broccoli as my sides. There was so much food I couldn't eat it all. I thought proudly that the foreign visitors to our nation must be impressed with what we show them in our parks. The ice cream cones were also so large that I couldn't finish mine. Not only is the food wonderful but everything is squeaky clean and well kept.

After we ate we sat and gazed at the work of art above us. We took in much of the information on signs and in the visitor's center. We decided we wanted to return for the light show at nine oclock so we went back to Keystone and rented a room at the Super 8. We took a room for four as that is the best bang for our buck.

We took a swim in the pool and soaked our weary travel bones in the hot tub. After freshening up, we returned to the monument for the night show. It was spectacular. A young slim blonde park ranger was the hostess of the show. She sang our national anthem and talk to us about our freedom. A movie about the history of Mt Rushmore was shown on a large screen at the base of the amphitheatre. Our patriotic juices were flowing.

We got to bed around eleven oclock. All was well until my brother fell asleep. He suffers from sleep apnea and snores amazingly loudly. I watched the clock until three a m and must of fallen asleep after that. He got up early and went to the hotel lobby for coffee. Then there was silence in the camp and I found rest for my body and mind.

On Monday we toured the Black Hills National Forest and Custer State Park. Our biggest thrill was observing herds of buffalo, two of which were crossing the road in front of us. We parked our car and sat to take in the sights. We watched the young nurse, the cows gently lead their young and the bulls walk around sniffing and grunting and rolling and generally acting as if they owned the herd, which they probably do. Sue, my sister-in-law, had the slide door of the van open. One very brassy fellow turned away from his intended direction and came directly toward her. My guess it was at about six feet that Sue managed to get her door closed. It was a tense but very exciting moment.

The prairie dogs were fun to watch. As one looked over the prairie, one saw hundreds of little mounds which are the homes of these little critters. The dogs were popping up and down out of the holes just like the games one finds at certain entertaining places where the heads pop up and when you hit one down, another surfaces. This was certainly the way the little dogs were playing. They also stood on their hind legs and watched the people ride past. We saw one little guy standing watching a buffalo a few feet away. So interesting. My husband asked what possible purpose God must have for the prairie dog. My brother answered, "So that He can look down and smile at them". A perfect conduction. I think there are many things in His creation that are created for the sheer purpose of His pleasure. The prairie dog must be one of those.

In addition to the sight of the creatures we saw, the sounds will forever be in my memory. The hum of the low threatening grovel of the male buffalo and the the delightful squeal of the prairie dog were sounds I tried to absorb in my brain's computer. Delightful.

We completed our touristing by a visit to Devil's Tower. A long way to ride to see a big rock. However, it is most impressive as it juts out of the ground in the middle of fairly flat land. The entire rock is made of cylinders of smaller rock, each with six sides or eight sides.

After taking a hotel room at the Howard Johnson's in Gillette, we went to get a few necessities at Walmart. Top on my list was a set of ear plugs. I'm hoping for a better night of sleep.