DAY FOUR
Sunday, July 14, 2024
All dressed up we head to church for Sunday Service. Its a beautiful morning with the sun lighting up the pews. We spend the morning talking with parishioners and enjoying delicious homemade food.
Although we are not spending the day working at the church, we still have a full day of activities planned. Shortly after changing we all head to our first stop of the day, Custer State Park. We stop at a gas station for a fill up and some snacks for the long journey ahead. Arriving at the park we head straight towards the visitors lodge to learn about the largest American bison herd in the world. The park rangers were able to point out where the burros and bison herds were roaming that day. Sure enough, driving along the wildlife loop we spot burros just off the road. Father Joseph thought ahead and provided us all with some baby carrots to feed the burros. There were adorable baby burros sticking closely to their mothers, who were more than happy to let us say hello in exchange for a treat. However, we soon ran out of carrots and had to head back to the cars to explore the rest of the park.
In addition to the burros we spotted plenty of prairie dogs, some pronghorns, a few rocks, and after much searching we were able to locate the herd of bison. A few of us had to walk down to the tree line to get a better view but it was worth the trek.
Our journey progresses as we make our way to Mount Rushmore National Memorial. We walked through the Avenue of Flags up to the four stone profiles carved into the mountain side. With the sun shinning through the clouds we were able to capture some pretty good pictures of the Statues. Before we leave, we pop into the ice cream shop to try some of Jefferson’s Vanilla Ice Cream. I’ll just say, there is a good reason it is still being made to this day.
Our next stop: Crazy Horse. We weren’t able to make it in time to see the Crazy Horse Memorial up close but we were able to catch a glimpse driving by. The sculpture is still in progress but the face of Crazy Horse and Part of his hand are visible even from the road.
After a long day of site seeing, the hunger starts to set in. We head towards Custer in search of food. Sage Creek Grille is our dinner stop for the day as we refuel and rehydrate. We also glimpse bison statues on the street corners decorating the town of Custer.
Even with food in our bellies, everyone is feeling exhausted from the day. After arriving back at the house it doesn’t take long for us to settle in and promptly go to bed.
