We got to the Big Thunder Gold Mine a little after 9:00. This was a working mine back in the 1800's. Two men from Germany heard that there was gold in the Black Hills, so they headed out here to stake a claim. They got 600 feet of land to mine. It took them 25 years to dig 680 feet! In the end they only found $20 worth of gold. We were able to walk the whole length of the mine and hear all the stories from their progress, or lack thereof. It was a very interesting tour. The most memorable thing for me was when the guide told us that the owners at the mill where the gold was processed used to make the workers poop in a container before they could leave. They did this because the workers would try to steal the gold by swallowing it to "collect" later. If they refused to go poop, they could get shot on the spot for stealing. And, folks, there you have your interesting fact for the day!
After our tour, our guide taught us how to pan for gold. They got us all set up with pans and pre-collected dirt with guaranteed gold flakes in them. That was an experience! We definitely all joined the "starving miner's club!" We all did find some flakes, and I'm pretty sure we all dumped some flakes. We were allowed to collect more dirt and pan as long as we wanted. Dad really got into this, of course, and we finally had to pull him away to go eat lunch.
We ate lunch at the Big Thunder Gold Mine Café, which was very good and very reasonable. I prayed for good weather for this trip, and the Lord has blessed us tremendously. The weather has been absolutely beautiful! We ate our lunch out on the deck of the restaurant and enjoyed the views of the Hills.
It was really important to mom to go to the Historical Museum for Keystone as she (and the rest of us) are HUGE Laura Ingalls fans. Turns out Carrie Ingalls lived in Keystone and her step son helped work on Mount Rushmore. The museum was built in the old school house and was very quaint. They had a lot of neat memorabilia from the city and from Carrie's life. They still had a couple of the rooms set up as they would have been when the school was in service. They had colonial clothes for the kids to try on and they let them all ring the big school bell. It was the kind of school bell that you had to climb up on the chair and literally jump and hold on to the rope to make it ring. The kids thought this was great fun, and I had to stop them from ringing it too often and making the whole town think they needed to come to school....
Dan and I didn't feel like we had had enough time at Mount Rushmore last night, so we headed back over there after the museum. We didn't make it far before Dan started hollering and pointing. In a parking lot by the road we were driving on were Lamborghinis, Bentleys, Rolls Royces, Ferraris, and other cars I can't even identify. Turns out the Cannonball Run was in town. Of course we turned around and parked to take some photo opportunities with these rare cars. Zack's long time favorite dream car has been a Lamborghini, so he was especially thrilled to get to take a photo with one. And then.......it got better. We were walking down the sidewalk back towards our car when a man came walking quickly past us. He said, "Hey, does anyone want a ride in a Lamborghini?" Of course all the kids wanted to take him up on it, but we decided that Zack should be the one that get to ride. Turns out the car was a 2016 Huracan 610. (That doesn't mean much to me, but Dan was impressed!) Zack cautiously got in the car and buckled up. The guy pulled out all the stops for Zack's short ride down the parking lot. He didn't have to do any of it. He was just moving his car, he didn't have to give a kid an opportunity he might never have again, but he did. I'm grateful for the kindness of people, and I'm really grateful for a racer in the Cannonball Run that took time to give my 14 year old kid a ride in his really cool car.
We finally arrived at Mount Rushmore. I can't explain the feelings that rise up in me as I walked up the walkway to the monument. The pride in our Country and the gratefulness for our forefathers fills me with emotion. The walkway is lined with flags from each state. The kids had fun locating the Arkansas flag each time we walked through. This time while we were there we took time to visit the visitor's centers and museums. We heard a great ranger program on Gutzon Borglum, the man who designed and headed up the building of Mount Rushmore. He had a "miniature"(It's really large!) sculpture of Mount Rushmore made that was to be the model for the real thing. They still have it in one of the museums and it's quite impressive. We walked the trail to the base of the mountain and enjoyed, not only the different views of Mount Rushmore, but the Ponderosa Pine forests all around as well. We did a little shopping in the gift store before heading back down into Keystone.
We spent the evening walking the cute town of Keystone, shopping, and eating some good ole fashioned ice cream. We came back early to the hotel to get ready for the next leg of our journey tomorrow. The kids are swimming in the pool and I am sitting here trying not forget anything from our journey.
Our time in South Dakota has been fabulous. I hope I've been able to relay the sights and emotions of this place well enough. It is definitely a must stop in the great Midwest!
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