DAY 28
Week 4
DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT (Wyoming, USA) to RAPID CITY (South Dakota, USA)
Tuesday July 18th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 198 miles or 319 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 3393 miles or 5461 kilometres
3 National monuments in one day - can it be done??? 
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. If you read on you will find that I visited 4 National Monuments, in order, they were Devils Tower (Wyoming), Deadwood (South Dakota), Mount Rushmore (South Dakota), Crazy Horse Monument (South Dakota) and near created another myself as the brakes failed again. We'll name that spot Kakmadaksagain (South Dakota).
Devils Tower National Monument (Wyoming) was sight that defied the eyes. When I've looked at pillars, the layers usually run horizontal (parallel to the ground), instead of vertical in this case. Try to imagine taking a sheet of cardboard, peeling the outside layer off it, roll it up with the corrugations on the outside that measures about ¾'s of a mile in circumference, stand it on it's end and make sure it reaches into the sky for about 870 feet. I enjoyed the hour or so it took to walk around the monument. I noticed the a lot of the pine trees looked to be getting ring barked. I found out it was the porcupines snacking down on what they think is a tasty treat.
Deadwood (South Dakota) works hard on it's reputation as a Wild West town and has a couple of claims to fame. Both Calamity Jane and Will Bill Hickok are buried on boot hill. The main street had a lot of historical worth but is slowly giving itself over to a Las Vegas style "chintzy" glitter and lights to advertise the towns major source which is the casinos. Neat to spend and hour or two but way too touristy for me
Wild Bill Hickok was gunned down in the No. 10 Saloon while playing poker. The hand he had was Aces and Eights which to this day is know a "dead mans" hand.
Sturgis (South Dakota) is probably only know for on the 2nd week of August. The 6500 inhabitants are probably quite happy with their lot for 51 weeks of the year, but come the week of the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally and 400,000 plus attendees make Sturgis the largest city in South Dakota. The truth be told, there is not a lot to do in Sturgis other than partying and people watching and visiting the motorcycle museum, but I can see why it would be so much fun riding making day rides to take in the sights of Devils Tower, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Monument, the Black Hills etc, etc, etc.
Mount Rushmore (South Dakota) is known worldwide as one of the symbols of America with the Stars & Strips, Statue of Liberty and baseball. What can I say about the place that hasn't been already said or that can not be answered by visiting the monument for yourself. Be warned though, it's popularity has made the icon a zoo of humanity. I got there around 2PM and there were people everywhere. To get around this (and to get some of the best photos) take the hour long Presidential walk. Go in a clockwise directions as there is way less up hill walking.
Crazy Horse Monument (South Dakota) is monument paying homage to the Indian nations. In my opinion, take the short 16 mile (25 kilometre) trip South of Mount Rushmore as you need to see both to get a proper perspective of the early beginnings of a young America. It has been 60 years, 10 million tons of earth moving (so far) in the making and on a scale that makes Mount Rushmore look like a weekend camp out and is but a smell part of what the Indian people are trying to achieve with the site, with absolutely zero government funding.
Driving the 200 or so miles today started off pretty well. I was real iffy about the brakes and drove down hills accordingly. The RV had no issues with the 10% grades on either side of Mount Rushmore, so I thought the problem was fixed when I first noticed and repaired it. I was pulling into a service station and the brake pedal went straight to the floor and no amount of pumping would slow me down. Luckily for all concerned, there was no one filling up and I sailed straight on through. I can see the headline "RV does drive after seeing pump prices"
I got the Man Pad pulled over at the empty block next door, at least I wasn't on one of the hills with the 10% decline. I got out to check out the brake fluid situation and found that I couldn't touch the lid of the master cylinder and it was way too hot, as was everything else under the shed. For the uninitiated, you don't have hoods or bonnets on Class A RV's.
The presence of so much heat seems unusual to me. Add to this, that for the last two days my right foot has been getting so hot that I can not keep my bare foot on the motion pedal, escalating fuel use, the motor is now backfiring when under load at low speeds and runs on when turning off the ignition all leads me to believe that something is "super heating" the engine bay. Whether it is not enough air flow, broken exhaust like the passenger side manifold or whatever - I just can't put my finger on it.
So here I am in the car park of the Walmart Astoria (my play on the words for the luxurious Waldorf Astoria) Rapid City (South Dakota). I'm going to scout out an RV dealer and hopefully we can get this situation rectified as well as the fridge playing up, before I catch fire, plummet off a cliff or both.
Be cool, because it's hotter than a bride on a wedding night out here.
• DEVILS TOWER ~ National Monument (Wyoming, USA)
• DEADWOOD (South Dakota, USA)
• STURGIS (South Dakota, USA)
• MOUNT RUSHMORE ~ National Monument (South Dakota, USA)
• CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL (South Dakota, USA)