STORIES FROM A RECENT 3-month USA TRIP – July, August, September 2023 (shipped bike over from Australia)
I’m guessing this area is on EVERYONE’S LIST and why wouldn’t it be. This area has so much to offer and I’m so glad I did it before the rush of the Sturgis Rally. Having arrived the week before, the roads were relatively quiet. PERFECT CONDITIONS. The scenery and roads are burnt into my memory and I long to go back.
The Needles HWY - This national scenic byway was considered impossible to construct by some before it was finished in 1922. It is named after the high granite "needles" it winds among. The Needles Eye Tunnel is the narrowest tunnel in South Dakota. My fat old bike squeezed through it no worries
Mt Rushmore and the “Boys” (so i was told the locals call them ) were a sight. What an amazing feat of construction. The presidents were chosen for their significant contribution to the founding, expansion, preservation, and unification of the country. George Washington (1789 – 1797) was chosen because he was the nation’s founding father. Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was chosen to represent expansion, because he was the president who authored the Declaration of Independence. Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) was chosen because he represented conservation and the industrial blossoming of the nation. Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) was chosen because he led the country through the Civil War and believed in preserving the nation at any cost. Is it true Trump believes he should be up there ???
post edit - some more information- Mt Rushmore. Before it was desiccated, it was known as Six Grandfathers and was a holy place to the indigenous population. It was chosen BECAUSE it would strip the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people of a place of meaning and contribute the holocaust. The actual history is whitewashed in order to draw tourists, but the true story of that monstrosity is much darker than how it is portrayed today. It's a symbol of pain, oppression, and genocide.
LOVE THIS AREA SO MUCH… AND I WANT TO COME BACK!