George, Thomas, Theodore and Abraham

Today was perfect.  It was 67F when I went for my morning walk.  The walk that I've been skipping a few too many times of late.  You know how that goes.

We decided it was a good day to drive to Mount Rushmore National Memorial and see the world-famous carvings of four very influential presidents. In a word it is:  MAGNIFICENT!

For a good portion of the drive north we were in Custer State Park where we encountered some new-to-us wildlife.

This little  Prairie Dog kept popping up and down his hole like he was in a carnival shooting gallery.  He communicated with his buddies in nearby holes with a series of high-pitched squeaks.

Next we came across this small grouping of antelope.  That is a baby hiding in the tall grass in front of the bottom antelope.

Then I got the "money shot."  As we neared a curve, traffic slowed and then stopped.  We spotted a Bison up ahead ambling alongside of the park road.  Cars started moving again and with several in back of me I grabbed my Canon camera, put it in rapid shooting mode, aimed, held down the shutter release and as we drove by I hopped for the best.  I got lucky. What a magnificent animal.

When we were three miles from the Mount Rushmore we pulled into a scenic overlook for this picture.

The National Park Service has done a wonderful job at Mount Rushmore.  Parking is plentiful, we even saw a couple of 40 foot RVs in the lot, everything is clean and well planned,  the exhibits are fascinating and engrossing and the movie describing the sculpting of the memorial is informative.

To the right of the carved figures of the presidents is this rock formation which Sandy noticed has a likeness to an elephant.

Thunderstorms are known to pop up quickly on the high plains and I was hoping these clouds would go away.  They did.

Here we are with some distinguished company in the background.

Cloud photos can be more impressive than sunsets.

Tonight's sunset isn't very dramatic, but it is serene.

Here is our front yard until Friday morning. The small white object in back of Moose is "Dome Boy" -- our Winegard Carry Out satellite receiver we use when trees near the motorhome block the signal from reaching the satellite dish on top of the motorhome. 

Stay tuned