We truly spent the day acting every bit the part of tourist. Which we are. After taking the "Wildlife Loop" tour around the
south part of Custer (which consisted of a few begging burros and the rounded up Buffalo), we made our way to the biggest tourist attraction in the Black Hills....Mount Rushmore. Having been there, done that I really considered this a stop "for Jeff's sake". Yet, even when we got our first long distance view of the monument, it gave me a thrill and a feeling of astonishment at what had been accomplished on the mountain top. I also felt, while gazing up at the four presidents, how ashamed they would be of politians (and politics in general) today.
After what was possible the best burger I have ever had in my life, in Keystone, we drove through Hill City and decided to take the Needles Highway home. Notorious for it's winding, narrow curves and extremely small tunnels, we HAD to do it. Okay, honestly....Jeff did not want to, but I was driving. Until, that is, we got to this tunnel. 8'4" at its widest. Our Truck is...8' at it's widest. Not a lot of room for error. Although I was the one that insisted on driving this route, Jeff got the honors of driving through this tunnel. I walked in front of him watching, ever so closely as the BB barely squeeked through! It was a rush!
Needles Highway
Obviously, we made it home all in one, intact piece and even saw a couple more Buffalo on the side of the road near our camp. Rumor has it they frequently walk right through the campground and are extremely unconcerned with "people". We had met our camp neighbor, Keith, that morning. He is a lone camper who drove his Harley from Corpus Christie, TX for a solo vacation and much needed break. He does love to socialize, however, and we ended up sitting around the campfire with him, drinking Shiner Bock and scotch and even shared a chicken dinner with him. Nice fellow. Hit the rack about 11 p.m. with only a slight buzz but a very full belly!
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