We had booked this place for a full week, knowing there were several things we wanted to see and do. But, it turned into a great week that was completely filled and we could have stayed longer, but we have this darned schedule that keeps us rolling in a southeastern direction. And we also survived the infamous Iron Mountain Road! There was so much to share that I had to have another two part update!
Custer, South Dakota
This small town of 2,000 people at 5,300 ft elevation is located in the Black Hills region. Established in 1874 by Europeans and the Black Hills Gold Rush began here after Lt. Col. George Custer and his men discovered gold.
This woman was operating a spinning wheel in a small shop in Custer. We bought one of her hand made wool rugs. 
Judge Randy. I judge most by just a quick glance at them. Yep. 
Look closely at this 1594 tree. Zoom in and read the notes. 
The old courthouse now turned into a museum.
They have several restaurants, bars, and the ever present plethora of t-shirt shops for the tourist. Do people really purchase that many cheap t-shirts? I found the downtown area to be very nice, clean and walkable. For more info LINK. They have large bison sculptures all over town that have been painted with local scenes. Cool.
Beaver Lake Campground, Custer
Our RV park was a nice place to spend the holiday week with plenty of shade trees and well off the road. The family owned and run park has a pool (that we did not use) and large water slide. Since it was the Labor Day weekend, the park was packed and kind of noisy with some large gatherings. Oh well, it is nice to see families enjoying RVing.
The other negative was a lack of cell phone coverage. No data or voice. Plus a poor RV park WiFi. So, I’ve gotten a little behind on publishing the blogs.
Mt. Rushmore
My first time to see this National Monument was around 1966 when I was about 12 or see with my family. Dad took a long summer vacation back then with the four of us packed into a pickup truck camper.
Look who! 
Then again in the late 1970’s, Pat and I stopped here on the way back home to Indiana after a summer vacation. You just never forget the sight of the stone carvings way up on top of this mountain side.
I tried this TJ original recipe vanilla ice cream. Excellent stuff! 
Profile shot from the Needles road.
From their website: “Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Completed in 1941 under the direction of Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln, the sculpture’s roughly 60-ft.-high granite faces depict U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The site also features a museum with interactive exhibits.”
Crazy Horse
This one is down right crazy! At 641 feet long and 563 feet high, the sculptor began his work in 1948 and it continues to this day. Boston-born sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski worked briefly as assistant to Gutzon Borglum carving Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills. Then he wanted to do his own mountain carving. Ziolkowski decided on this memorial to Native Americans after a few years and much research.
1880 Train Ride
The Black Hills Central RR provides a fun steam excursion through the Black Hills from Hill City SD to Keystone or the reverse. We did the Hill City 10 am ride that lasted about an hour to Keystone. I just love the old trains. Something about that time period.
Our steam engine building up heat and steam for the long mountain pull. 
They even have a snack bar made from an old RR car. 
Trish is on early! 
Some nice scenery on the way. 
Had a nice lunch at the saloon, after walking around town a bit. Then had to have the required after lunch coffee. Walked about a mile for a good cup of coffee at Grapes & Grinds. After our coffee, it was about time for the 2pm train back to Hill City.
After arriving, the crew tends to oiling and adding more water. 
The train’s conductor is preparing for the Christmas train season. 
We passed a wedding photo op. 
The highway would snake back and forth across the tracks requiring 20 steam whistles that were pretty cool but could be annoying to locals, I’m sure.
Our steam engine was a 1928 Baldwin that burns used motor oil to generate steam. More info from website: This is a 2-6-6-2T articulated Mallet that was built by The Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1928 for the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company of Vail, WA. Its next stop was The Rayonier Lumber Company where it received a tender from Rayonier #101 and was retired in 1968. This engine was later displayed at the Wasatch Mountain Railway in Heber City, UT, and then sold to the Nevada State Railway Museum. The #110 was sold to The BHC in 1999 and was trucked from Nevada to South Dakota on four semi-trailers. Restoration on this engine was completed in the spring of 2001. It is the only 2-6-6-2T Mallet in service in the world.
Thanks for following along! We are currently in Sioux Falls, SD and experienced an extremely strong thunderstorm complete with tornado on Wednesday night. We are fine and I’ll provide more of an update in the next blog. It was a hairy night, but just a small inconvenience in this great RVing life! Take care and God Bless.
Looks like another great week spent exploring. Like the train.
Robert
The 1880 train was a fun ride, but was no comparison to the Durango narrow gauge!