We planned a short driving day and It turned out that’s what we got. One minor change. I forgot to add the Crazy Horse Memorial to the route. Mrs. Henry doesn’t ask for a lot and this was one of the few things she really wanted to see. It had been several years since she had seen it so I set my GPS for a little back tracking to make it happen. If you’ve never been to see this masterpiece, I recommend that you add it to your list. The size of this undertaking is amazing. It started in 1948 and is nowhere near finished.

There is a lot of information online about this effort. The constructors refuse to take any government money. It is funded through donations and admission to see this sculpture.

Back toward Rapid City and I-90 to rejoin our original route. What’s a little 70 mile detour anyway?

There is only one more stop for today. That happens to be at Chamberlain, South Dakota which is our destination for our Ranchward bound first travel day. This one is titled “Dignity of Earth and Sky”. It is impressive in a different way than Crazy Horse Memorial. This one is a hand-crafter stainless steel tribute to the native American women that helped power the first American culture much the way women of today power our modern society. I wish I had the vision to see things the way some artists do.

Dignity stands alongside the Missouri River and near a campsite from the Lewis and Clark Expedition. This has been installed and a modern rest area built up around it. It has really nice, clean modern restrooms which were much appreciated today.

Our landing site for the evening was a hotel right on the river in the town of Chamberlain. I wanted something to eat and didn’t want to get back in the truck. Across the street was a pizza place. Sounded like a good solution. We walked across a busy street.

It’s apparent to me that there is not enough activity in this part of South Dakota so married couples spend their time having babies. There was a screaming baby concert in the pizza place tonight. The food was ok but the noise was incredible. I’m afraid there would have been fewer children in my family if my siblings had acted like that in public. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

While I’m ranting about things, I wanted to mention two older generation men in a car with New York plates on it who had finished filling their car at a very busy gas station. They proceeded to light up cigarettes and have a chat while they puffed away. They created enough of a backup that a guy pulling a trailer with a big black pickup truck (me) couldn’t get to the only diesel pump on the lot. Tomorrow is another day. We’re 300 miles closer to the ranch.

Thanks for reading along and putting up with my ranting and rambling.