Day 7- South Dakota is awesome!

Who knew South Dakota was so awesome? Ok, so we began the day in Wyoming (not South Dakota) but both are actually really beautiful states. We awoke in Sheridan (why was our stay at a Days Inn in rural WY so expensive? Who knows?!) and then drove out to Devils Tower (yes, there isn't an apostrophe). This monolith was featured prominently in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." It was a pretty striking national monument and we took the time to circumambulate the bottome. We also got to see a very active prarie dog town with lots of "dogs" scampering around and munching wildly. Next, we drove through the western town of Deadwood before heading to Mt Rushmore. Mt Rushmore lived up the hype. It was a well-managed national park with a great film about the sculptor Gutzon Borglum, a pathway with a view up the presidents' nostrils, and a sculptor's studio. They also had stands serving beer. What's more American than drinking beer at Mt Rushmore? In the afternoon, we drove through Custer State Park to Bedrock City (a Flintstone's theme park) for lunch. Then, we stopped in Custer to buy Sturgis tshirts and watch all the bikers cruise through the streets. (Sturgis is a huge motorcycle rally held each August in Sturgis, SD. Five hundred thousand Harley-Davidson owners ride to Sturgis each year. Basically, there are tough looking bikers EVERYWHERE!). We ended the day at the Crazy Horse Memorial. It's still a work in progress (only the outline and his face is carved), but it will be almost 600 ft tall when it's finished. (The four heads at Mt Rushmore would fit in Crazy Horse's hair!). We stayed for the light show and then drove to our hotel in Rapid City.