| Mount Rushmore
|
|
After breakfast at the
Bavarian Mountain Inn,
we packed up and checked out. If only we had more time here,
but there was so much more to see.
I charged to only 90% because I knew that was plenty for all our stops today.
Our first destination was world-famous Mount Rushmore.
On the way we found white mountain goats blocking the road until they continued grazing
on the other side, so we took some pictures.
Once we reached Rushmore, the sight is unmistakable.
We quickly obtained Junior Ranger books
and made our way down the Avenue of Flags.
The presentation of Mount Rushmore
encourages everyone to take pictures with the
granite faces almost every step of the way.
Because it is so easy to see the whole way,
it doesn't seem at first to be as large as it really is.
Once you take the Presidential Trail to the base
the size is clearly enormous, looking up
the Presidents' nostrils.
We spent many hours here, including in the
Visitors Center where we read and the exhibits and
the video about how it was built. So fascinating.
After Rushmore we drove to
Crazy Horse Memorial to have lunch and take more pictures and see the exhibits.
Afterwards we drove south to Wind Cave.
|
|
|
| Wind Cave National Park
|
| Time | Event | Range Remaining |
|---|
| 8:39 am | Departed Bavarian Inn | 218 |
| 2:20 pm | Arrived Wind Cave National Park | 157 |
Range/Distance ratio: 0.968
Conditions: 74°F
Other than the wildlife on the surface,
Wind Cave is almost entirely underground.
It was so named in the 19th century because the difference in pressure and temperature between the surface air and
and the miles and miles of limestone-enclosed chambers below drive surprisingly strong winds
through the few natural openings to the surface.
We came to take the Natural Entrance Tour, a guided Ranger walking tour down to 204 feet below the surface
to see "boxwork" and other formations unique to this cave, ending with an elevator ride back up.
The problem was, by the time we arrived, the elevator was out of service.
So we explored the Visitors Center and completed as much of the Junior Ranger booklets as we could.
To everyone's surprise, the elevators came back online and we immediately booked a spot for the next Natural Entrance Tour.
I'm very glad we were able to do it because it was very exciting for our whole family.
|
|
|
| Custer Supercharger
|
|
After a great visit at Wind Cave National Park, we returned to Custer for dinner.
| Time | Event | Range Remaining |
|---|
| 5:41 pm | Departed Wind Cave National Park | 154 |
| 6:09 pm | Arrived Custer Supercharger | 123 |
Range/Distance ratio: 1.48
This Supercharger site only appeared long after I planned out the route,
so its appearance was very convenient.
We had the best pizza on the entire trip at
Pizza Mill while charging in Custer.
I highly recommend.
Looking at how many come in and out of here for take out pizza, the locals agree.
Cost to Charge: $0
|
|
Following dinner and a nice fill-up,
my children were exciting to get dessert at the unmistakable
Purple Pie Place in Custer.
|
| Lusk Supercharger
|
| Time | Event | Range Remaining |
|---|
| 7:20 pm | Departed Custer | 235 |
| 9:06 pm | Arrived Lusk Supercharger | 113 |
Range/Distance ratio: 1.11
Conditions: Fast, 70 mph speed limit
|
|
We zipped south on highways 385, 89, and 18 before reentering Wyoming one last time on our trip.
I was doing my best to obey the speed limit.
Soon we arrived at the
Covered Wagon Motel
to check in, which also hosts a Supercharger.
Cost to Charge: $0
|
Dean E. Dauger holds a Ph. D. in physics from UCLA, where his group
created the first Mac cluster in 1998. Dr. Dauger is the award-winning
author in multiple American Institute of Physics' Software Contests and
co-authored the original, award-winning Kai's Power Tools
image-processing package for Adobe Photoshop.
After founding his company,
Dauger Research, Inc., its debut product,
Pooch, derived from Dr. Dauger's experience using clusters for his
physics research, was soon awarded as "most innovative" by IEEE Cluster
and continues to revolutionize parallel computing and clusters worldwide
with its patented technology.
|
