Day 11: Wind Cave and Mt. Rushmore

 Today was a long drive from Estes Park near Rocky Mountain National park to Custer, South Dakota. On the way, my plan was to stop at Wind Cave National Park and do the guided cave tour. I checked online, but they stop issuing tickets 3 days prior to the actual date, which meant that on reaching the park, I would have to try for the few first-come first-served tickets. Since the tickets sell out about 2 hours before the tour start time, I started from the hotel early at 7am. 

On the way, I took a 20 minute detour to drive through Nebraska for a few minutes. It is the first one of the states I have covered so far that I am only touching, just so I can claim I visited all 48 states.

I finally reached the Wind Cave National Park at 1:45pm and got into the line for the cave tours. As luck would have it, they sold the last ticket of the day to the person just ahead of me in the line.  

Who do I blame for this? My bad planning for not having bought the tickets more than 3 days in advance? Maybe I should blame Nebraska for the 20 minutes that made me miss the tour. 

Once I got over my disappointment, I went for the short Prairie Vista Loop Trail in the park.  It was hot and I was glad when the hike was over. 

Drove into Custer for a Tesla supercharger stop followed by delicious enchiladas at the Begging Burro Mexican Bistro. Then a quick drive to my hotel in Custer, nestled in the beautiful Black Hills.   

There were still a few hours of daylight left, So I decided to go to Mt Rushmore today, instead of waiting till tomorrow as originally planned.

 

On reaching Mt Rushmore, I found out that there is an Evening Lighting Ceremony at 8pm. I decided to wait for it and took some sunset pictures in the meantime.  I also did the short one mile President Trail Loop.

Then it was onto the outdoor Amphitheater to watch the program. It was very informative to hear about the amazing accomplishments of each of the four presidents they picked for Mt Rushmore. The finale was the singing of the national anthem and recognition of the armed service members in the audience. It was a very moving and emotional ending to the day. 

The silver lining from missing the Wind Cave tour was that I was able to enjoy the sunset at Mt Rushmore and join the evening Lighting Ceremony.

I also gained back the time I had set aside tomorrow for a Mt Rushmore visit. I am now planning to go to Jewel Cave National Monument and do a cave tour there. 

You win some, you lose some. It all balances out in the end!

 

The raw numbers for the day:

• 414 miles driving, 9200 steps walking
• 4 Tesla supercharger stops, Tesla destination charger at hotel
  
• 4 states - Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota