Leaving Billings we were part of a motorcycle caravan that grew to hundreds by the time we got to South Dakota. The reason we had trouble getting a hotel reservation near Mount Rushmore was because of the annual Sturgis, SD Motorcycle Rally. There were thousands of Harley Davidsons and other than the Japanese tourists, we were the only people touring these sites who did not have tattooes. I have included a picture of the parking lot at the Crazy Horse Memorial so you could get an idea of how many of them there were.

On the way to Mount Rushmore we stopped to see where the Battle of the Little Bighorn and Custer's Last Stand happened which is now on the Crow reservation. The army used white grave markers where the soldiers and civilians died. You can see them scattered around the hills. The black tombstone in the picture is Custer's. The bodies of the indians were taken away by their tribes and so one large monument was placed on the site to remember those who died. The story was told to us by a park tour guide from the Crow Reservation who gave us a very emotional talk about members of her family who died during these battles.

Then we headed to Keystone SD where we stayed 2 days and toured Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial but more about that tomorrow. It is going to take me some time to decide which of my 50 pictures of Mount Rushmore I should include.