Yesterday, I decided to take a turn to the east and spend
the night here at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Gillette, Wyoming. After
supper last night I spent a good part of the evening coming up with a revised
plan for the rest of this adventure. I explored the possibility of heading down
toward Cheyenne and then Taking Interstate 80 across Wyoming to Salt Lake City.
I also played with the Idea of heading down to Denver and heading west on
Interstate 70 through the Rocky’s and then north to Salt Lake City. Then
Traveling East across Wyoming on Interstate 80 to Cheyenne. While I would have
liked to have been able to continue my westward adventure there were a couple
of wildfires burning along Interstate 70, west of Denver that could (and did)
end up closing Interstate 70.
So, I have officially decided leave Gillette and begin my easterly trek toward South Dakota. It was a little after 8:30 a.m. when I
checked out of the Comfort Inn & Suites only to find that the key fob
problem that I had back in Bismarck had resurfaced. The key fob would not open
the door and I again had to use the emergency start by pushing the start button
with the key fob. I got the car started
but before leaving the hotel I searched the internet for the Closest Honda
dealer. I found that there wasn’t a
Honda Dealer in Gillette, and the closest one was in Rapid City.
On the way out of town, I stopped at the local Chevrolet
Dealer and spoke with one of the Service Technicians about this reoccurring
problem. He told me it was probably the
battery. I told him that the battery for the fob was replaced just a week ago
in Bismarck. He then told me that it could be a bad sensor in the car or the
fob itself was bad. He also said that
the emergency start mechanism should work, I would just have to use the hidden
key to lock and unlock the car.
So, I hit Interstate 90 and headed toward Rapid City some
140-miles away. Now last night I had planned to visit the Devil’s Tower Nation
Monument and a couple of other spots along the way. But now with the car acting up again I made a
beeline to Rice Honda in Rapid City.
It took me almost two and a half hours to make the 140-mile
drive and I arrived at Rice Honda on Mall Drive right at 11 a.m. I talked to one of the Service Advisors who
was absolutely no help at all. He did not even want to hear anything about the
problem and told me the only thing he could do was schedule me for an
appointment on Tuesday of Next week. I ask him if he had any suggestion on what
was causing the problem and he bluntly replied "not without an appointment". He
was no help at all.
As I was leaving one of the service technicians walked with
me to the car. This time when I touched the door handle the sensor unlocked the
car. The fob and car seemed to be working again. The service technician that
followed me to the car told me that my problem could be a bad sensor or a bad
key fob just like the guy at the Chevrolet Dealer in Gillette said. But the service advisor also said it was more
likely just a programing issue that could be solve by resetting the sensor in
the car’s computer and resyncing the fob.
He said that it would take about 15 minutes to do it. And ask me to hold
on while he talked to the Service Advisor.
About 5-minutes later the helpful service technician came
back and told me that the Service Advisor refused to push me in, insisting that
I schedule the appointment for next week. I thanked him for his help and told
him that I would see if I could make some other arrangements. The Service Technician told me that perhaps
the Honda Dealer in Sioux Fall or Sheridan would be more helpful. I got the
distinct impression that he didn’t think very highly of the Service Advisor.
Anyway, I stopped for lunch and when I walked away from the
car, I heard the beep telling me that the doors were locked, and the fob and
car were communicating. While having lunch, I searched the Choice and Holiday
Inn apps for a room for the next couple of day.
Most of the rooms in Rapid City were well over $150 a night. But I did find a room available at the
Comfort Inn & Suites in near by Hill City for $100 a night. This was even better as the Hill City Hotel
was located really close to both Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments. So,
I made a reservation for the next two nights.
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| CRAZY HORSE |
At 12:30 p.m. I pulled into the Parking Lot of the Crazy
Horse Visitors Center. The Crazy Horse
Monument is not part of the National Park Service, so my National Park Senior
Pass didn’t work, and I paid the $35 fee to enter the memorial site. The $35 fee includes parking and admission to
the museum and the viewing area.
I began my visit in the museum and gift shop before moving outside to the viewing area. There are several other shops and a couple of food stations all around the viewing area. The view area was really crowded, and it was hard to get photos without people. But I persisted and did get some decent photos of the area and of the Crazy Horse Memorial.
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| CRAZY HORSE |
While I was walking around the viewing area, I heard a
volunteer talking about the memorial. He said the memorial was the vision of a
man named Henry Standing Bear. The Monument has been under construction since
1948 and is still many decades away from completion. I don’t think that anyone
of my generation will ever see it completed.
I ended up spending a little more than an
hours at the Crazy Horse Memorial. I must admit that once you have seen the
actual memorial that is being carved into the mountain, everything else has
more of a tourist trap feel too it. But
all in all, it was well worth the price of admission to see what an amazing
monument to Chief Crazy Horse will be.
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| CUSTER STATE PARK |
It was just a short drive from Crazy Horse to the Entrance
to Custer State Park. I paid the $20
entrance fee and off I went. The
entrance fee is good for 7 days so I can return for a longer visit if I want
to.
The drive through the Custer State Park, is in a word, AMAZING! The drive takes you through pine forest which give way to rugged stone formations. At one point you drive through the rock formations. This part of the drive is known as Cathedral Spires, and it is the most amazing park of the drive. This part of the highway is really narrow as you make you way slowly through the tall, rugged rock formation. As I drove through the rocks and made my way down the mountain the rugged rocks gave way to grassy meadows where Buffalo are roaming freely. The lady at the park visitors center said the herd numbers about 1,500 and is one of the largest herds of free ranging buffalo in South Dakota.
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| NEEDLES EYE TUNNEL |
The drive through the state park on the Needles Highway, is
about 15-miles but it took me the better part of 2-hours to complete my drive.
I stopped at every pullout and overlook and even took a couple of short hikes along
the way. I keep using the word amazing, but it is the only word that seems to
fit.
I started my trip at the Route 385
entrance to the park and made my way all the way across to Route 87 which took
me up to Iron Mountain Road. Driving
across Iron Mountain Road is another spectacular drive that affords you some
amazing views of Mount Rushmore in the distance. It is
along this route that you get the iconic tunnel view of Mount Rushmore.
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| MOUNT RUSHMORE |
The drive along Iron Mountain Road took another hour and a
half and it was getting late when I arrived at the entrance to Mount
Rushmore. Being so late in the day, I
decided to head on to the Comfort Inn in Hill City and visit Mount Rushmore tomorrow
when I can spend as much time as I want.
It was a little before 5 p.m. when I
arrived at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Hill City, South Dakota. This is a
nice hotel and I check-in was quick and in no time flat I was in my room. I remember seeing on Facebook where Kandice
and Gus Necessary were in South Dakota a few days ago so I sent Kandace a text to see if they were anywhere close.
Well, they were closer than I thought. About 10-minute after
I sent my message, she replied that they were still in South Dakota and want to
know where I was. I told them that I was at the Comfort Inn “south of Rapid
City” in a little town called Hill City.
I was really surprised when she replied that they were, “right across the street." Kandace said they were staying at the Lantern Inn which was right across Highway 16 from me. We quick made arrangements to meet for supper and a short time later I made my over to the Lantern Inn and met them.
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| ME & GUS |
Gus and Kandace along with two other
couples were on a summer Motorcycle trip. Also joining them on this trip were
Toby Thompson and Garland Snead, two troopers and friends that I worked with
from many years. Toby and Garland had cutout early this morning to take a side
trip and would be joining back up with Gus, Kandace, and the other couples later in Sioux Falls.
After catching up for a few minutes we all walked down to Alpine
Inn for Supper. Hill City is a small town and being it is really close to both
Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Custer State Park, it is crowded with tourists.
There was a line at any of the restaurants, so we had a wait before we were
seated for supper. So, Gus and I used the time to catch up.
After an hour wait, we were finally seated and enjoy a great
suppers and visit with Gus, Kandace, and their friends. After supper we walked
back to the Lantern Inn where Gus, Kandace and I continued our visit. Both Gus
and I lamented on how it was amazing that we live only about 30-miles apart and
had to come all the way to South Dakota to catchup with each other. We decided that once back home in Virginia we
will keep in touch. They would be pulling out in the morning and beginning
there trip back toward home.
After a great visit with my dear friends, I made my way back across the street to the Comfort Inn. It was a little after 10 p.m. when I got
back to my room and spent the rest of the night coming up with a plan for the
next couple of day. The issue with my car and a couple of other things have
caused me to rearrange my plans.
Even with the issue with my car, I had a great day.
Scratched another destination off my bucket list with a visit to the Crazy
Horse Memorial, had a great drive across the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain
Road. Then I capped the day off with a wonderful supper with wonderful friends.
Today was simply amazing, and the adventure continues.
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