If it's Friday, we must be in South Dakota....

We took the morning off and caught up with some chores around the moho.  Last night's thunderstorm left quickly and the temperature had dropped to the 30s by morning.  But it was a bright, sunny day, so we had to go somewhere!

A lone bison grazes
over the Wind Cave

We headed to Wind Cave National Park, the first national park we've been to this trip.  It is the 4th largest cave in the world, but you'd never suspect it lies just below the surface of the tranquil rolling plains.  The cave was discovered in 1881 by 2 brothers who ranched in the area.  It was not much more than a 2 foot hole in the ground, but cool air blew out of it and made a low whistling sound.  When the air pressure is high outside, the air rushes in.

Some of the boxwork formations

The tour took us through a slightly larger opening and down through the cave about 200 feet below ground level.  This cave has a relatively unique feature called "boxwork" and it's calcite deposits that have formed delicate box-like formations over the walls and ceilings.  It was a fun tour and a real different world from what we've been through recently.

The model for the mountain...

...and the mountain.

Of course, we couldn't miss the other huge rock carving in the area and on our way back we stopped at Crazy Horse Mountain.  This is an unimaginable carving of a granite mountain into a memorial to honor all Indians.  It was begun in 1948 and, as pictures seem to indicate, may never be completed in our lifetimes.  They said that Mt. Rushmore could fit into the area of Crazy Horse's head, so that gives it an almost unreal dimension.

Tomorrow we're off to the Badlands National Park (America's most mysterious national park, according to the brochure), so we'll hopefully be able to let you know why they earned their name.