| 2011-9-5 (Mon) | Touring Black Hills east of Rapid City, SD - continued |
(aw_0643) Mount Rushmore
(aw_0647) Mount Rushmore - from left the presidents are: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln
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(aw_0663) Crazy Horse Monument north of Custer, SD
(aw_0661) Crazy Horse Monument - still under construction
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| 2011-9-5 (Mon) | Cave tour at Wind Caves National Park |
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(aw_0673) original opening of the cave. The park ranger guide demonstrates the wind blowing out of the cave opening with a ribbon.
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(aw_0682) Boxwork formation
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(aw_0718) Bison in Wind Cave National Park
| 2011-9-5 (Mon) | Cave tour at Jewell Cave National Park west of Custer, SD |
(aw_0669) Jewell Cave is the second longest cave in the world (155 miles of cave)
(aw_0723) Jewell Cave National Park - visitor center
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(aw_0757) drapery formation and popcorn formation on right
(aw_0767) Pencil thin formation that took 300,000 years to form
(aw_0770) stalactite from above meeting a stalagmite coming from below. It may be a million years before they meet.
(aw_0771) drapery formation
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(aw_0780) more drapery formation and popcorn formation on right
(aw_0783) Water from above drips into a depression in floor and splatters to surrounding area, eventually becoming "popcorn" formation.
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(aw_0789) One of the many stairs on the tour
(aw_0797) A formation created by dripping water that looks like a strip of bacon
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| 2011-9-5 (Mon) | Needles Highway in Black Hills |
(aw_0805) Needles Highway area northeast of Custer, SD. There were several old and narrow auto tunnels along the way.
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(aw_0841) Sylvan Lake
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(aw_0848) Mountain goats near Mount Rushmore
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| 2011-9-8 (Thu) | Ellsworth AFB and Rapid City, SD |
(aw0850) Gate entrance to Ellsworth AFB just east of Rapid City,SD
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(aw0853) B-1 bomber display
(aw0855) In downtown Rapid City a statue of American Indian woman and daughter in front of the Prairie Edge Trading Company and Galleries.
They sell famous Indian artifacts. Some of their things were used in the making of the movie "Dances With Wolves" with actor Kevin Costner.
(aw0856) My picture with a statue of President George Bush, Sr (term 1989-1993). In downtown
Rapid City they have statues of U.S. presidents on all the street corners.
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(aw0866) Photos of U.S. presidents
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(aw0870) President Thomas Jefferson (term 1801-1809)
(aw0871) Statue of President Richard Nixon (term 1969-1974)
(aw0872) President George Bush, Jr (terms 2001-2009)