The temperature shot up to 103 at Wall, SD and then bounced up to 107 as we pulled into Rapid City. The winds were running about 30 mph also so we called it a day early. Good thing because most of the motels we called had only one room left and that was at a premium price. Way over $100. We finally found a room in Keystone for $96 but it was only a room without Internet access, no pool, etc. Rapid City and Rushmore are ripoffs. Don't go there if you don't have to.
We checked into the motel and decided to ride down to the monument. It was in shadow and looked like early morning would be better for a photo shoot, so we bypassed Rushmore and went to the Crazy Horse mountain. Pretty impressive sight. Sue said the last time she was there they only had a bucket out front for donations and all there was to see was the sculptor's cabin. Now there is a complex of buildings, a fee to get in, a quite good introduction film and lots of stuff to buy. A number of native Americans have their wares out for sale.
We got back in time to drink a couple of beers and set out for the Ruby House to eat. It rained while we were drinking our beers, but it didn't help the temperature at all. The Ruby House was a bit pricey, but had good food. I had the bourbon rib eye and Sue had the ribs. That was the leanest rib eye I've ever eaten, but it was tender and tasty. Sue said the ribs were good too. Sort of strange that the bar was under different management so we had to pay two different waitresses. One for the drinks and one for the food.
Rather than intersperse the pictures in the text, I'm going to put them on a separate page. That way folks with limited bandwidth won't have to wait for the images to download. The pictures from now on will be on a new site, http://cruisinglife.org/piwigo/index.php?/category/1/start-120 This is the old site http://cruisinglife.org/Summer2005pix/
Updated stats. Highest temp was 107 in South Dakota.
Most we paid for gas: $2.399 in South Dakota
Highest winds 30 mph in South Dakota
Most we paid for a room $96.95 in South Dakota
Least liked state: South Dakota
Jim.