Day 14: Rapid CIty, SD

Hi friends,

Wow, I can't believe I've already been gone two weeks. I also can't believe I've only been gone for two weeks. Hmm... I woke up early this morning, around 7:30, had breakfast at my hotel and then headed out to Black Hills Forest. I drove and drove and drove. It was beautiful. Then I went to the Crazy Horse Memorial. That was phenomenal! It's HUGE! The head of Crazy Horse is nine times the size of Mt. Rushmore. Here's a photo I took:

If you want to see a good photo of it, you should do a Google image search. It was also cool to learn about the sculptor, Korcazk Ziolkowski. I'm adding his biography to the list of books I need to read. After Crazy Horse I went for a hike on the Centennial Trail in Black Hills Forest. Not the whole trail - it's 100 miles long. Here's a photo I took on my hike:

Then I had a picnic lunch at a little general store/gas station/campgrounds in Custer State Park.

I went back to the hotel, rested a little while to allow my food to digest, and then headed for the waterpark. So just to clarify, this is now the second hotel I'm staying at with a waterpark. And this waterpark is way bigger than the last one. They had three massive water slides and you had to climb up 80 steps to get to them. I counted. Here's a photo of the tamest of the slides. Also check out these videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGKCtqCqdU4&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHywvqPMBfk&feature=related

I went down six times and then felt like I was going to puke, so I went back to my room and watched TV for a few minutes. Then I went to Mt. Rushmore. Here's a photo I took of George Washington's face from inside a rock.

I walked along the trails, checked out the museum, had dinner there, and then stayed for the evening show. Here's a photo I took of the monument at night:

Again, if you want to see better photos, do a Google image search. All I have is my iPhone because I still haven't found the charger for my camera battery. I'm completely exhausted now, so I'm going to bed. In the morning, I'm going to go for a bike ride along the creek in Rapid City, visit the waterpark one more time, and then head to either Wyoming or Montana. I haven't decided yet. Probably Wyoming.

Talk to you soon!

Danielle :)