On Sunday we got pics of the Pronghorn Antelope that we have been seeing for several days. Unlike the bison, they don't seem to come too near the road for good photo ops.
These first cave shots were taken at Wind Cave National Park, near Custer, South Dakota. It is one of the longest, most complex caves in the world. It contains more boxwork, a rare and beautiful cave formation, than any other cave in the world.
The formations above are called cave popcorn and their is some frost work coming out of it. The frost work is the spikey formations coming out of the lumpy popcorn looking minerals.
The cave is well known for its outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs.The pictures below showcase some of this interesting bit of nature.
Later, on Sunday, we went to Jewel Cave National Monument. It is recognized as the 2nd longest cave in the world. It has 142 miles confirmed and air flow data that indicates vast areas yet unexplored. To go on one of the tours (not the one we went on) you had to be able to get through a space the size of the one below. I couldn't do it on my front, but, at the Ranger's suggestion, I tried it on my back and made it through.
When the cave was first discovered, the jewels, such as these, led the explorers to believe there might be valuable gems, but it turned out to be all calcite - as soft crystal with no real value. Instead they developed portions of the cave for tourists.
There are many different kind of formations in this cave. Some boxwork, like in nearby Wind Cave, as well as the rounded flowstone, above, and drapery below. In the brighter part of the picture, you can see stalactites and stalagmites, as well. Due to different porosity of various limestones, these are much smaller than the stalactites in limestone caves in New York.
These two pictures show the folds that resemble draperies (or in the case of the ones below, might bear a bigger resemblance to jelly fish).
When a stalactite and a stalagmite meet, you get a column, and if it is is still hollow it is called a straw, like the one above. All stalactites start out hollow, but they often clog up with minerals and then the water flows over the outsides.
This formation, in Jewel Cave, is called...you guessed it...cave bacon. For once, no imagination is required to see why it is named this. It really does look just like a piece of bacon hanging right there in the cave.
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With all the food names of cave formations, we were getting hungry and decided to eat at the Flintstones Drive In. Why...well, why not!!!
The Flintstones didn't offer anything exciting for dessert, so we went up the road to this purple pie and ice cream shop.
See, Janet, aren't you sad you missed this place? A purple building that had lemon meringue pie (and if it compared to the pies we ate, I bet it was a good one)!
I had a yummy piece of apple pie, and Roland, ever more adventerous with the food, had Raisin Sour Cream Pie and liked it, though didn't think it was as much like Sour Cream Blueberry Pie as he had thought it might.
After supper we went to Crazy Horse Memorial. The Nature Gate is beautiful. If anyone tells you, as we had heard, that Crazy Horse is way better than Mt. Rushmore, believe them! Not that the actual mountain carving is better, because it isn't done yet, but the surrounding facilities have alot more interesting things to see and do.
Here you see the 1/30 size sculpture of what it will look like when it is done, with the actual mountain behind it. From what I understand, there was a blast set off on the next day, July 4, so the mountain will look just a little different now, than it did the day we were there. The face is done and they are working on the hand now. After that, they will work on the head. Unlike Mt. Rushmore, there is no government funding for this project.
In the museum, there was Native American artwork of all kinds. I am most fascinated by the quill work. Porcupine quills are cut into lengths and sewed, like beads, onto leather. Intricate and amazingly beautiful. I see me finding myself some quills to try this, in my future.
The laser light show and music, in the evening, was worth the wait, too. They do a beautiful job of showing off the mountain and telling its story with light and laser.
Hard to see the mountain in the last picture, but the lasers have illuminated there the rocks will eventually get carved. I hope they finish this memorial in my lifetime (they started in the 1940's, so can't promise they will). It is all privately funded and is still being done by the family of the now deceased sculptor. Carving is pretty much all done by blasting the mountain away, little by little.
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