Mt Rushmore and Custer State Park, South Dakota

Full day of sightseeing today, starting with another trip to the Mt Rushmore National Memorial. Not sure why, but it's not a "National Park" or "National Monument"; it's a "National Memorial".

There are workers on top of Teddy Roosevelt's head today. They are setting up for the July 3 fireworks (I don't know why July 3; it seems like they should be July 4, Independence Day).

We tour the sculptors studio and walk the Presidential Trail at the base of the mountain.

Here is a photo of the amphitheatre that they use for the evening program:

After completing our Jr Ranger program activities (and getting our badge), we leave Mt Rushmore and head over to Keystone for an outdoor lunch.

We then take off for a very scenic drive on the Iron Mountain Drive with it's spiral bridges and narrow tunnels.

We make a few stops on the Iron Mountain Parkway and then continue to the Needles Highway, with its' narrow roads and tunnels. Including the famous Needles Tunnel:

There are several mountain climbers practicing their skills at the Needles stop. A man was killed here several days ago when he fell 70 feet at this spot, but the climbers today appear oblivious to the danger and appear to be enjoying their climbing.

The pinecones are just beginning to form on the pine trees here. They're really pretty:

We also make a stop at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park and hike around the very pretty lake:

We return to the KOA for dinner, followed by two games of miniature golf, thunderstorms, and very slow wifi/computer time in the evening. Nice campground, but they need to work on their wifi.