WOW!!!! Day six has shown us so many things!!!! It started with our drive through the badlands, which pictures simply can not capture how spectacular and vast these lands are. We stopped at many viewpoints, and climbed on the rocks like we were kids. After the Badlands we drove to Mount Rushmore. We however first stopped in the town of Keystone to buy a few postcards, and ended up both finding some very cute hats = ) I have now bought me a new pair of boots and a cowgirl hat on this trip = ) Did someone say hillbilly? = )We read that it of course was carved using strategically placed dynamite, and that artist had never wanted people to have to pay to see it. But of course if you want to park close they charge you ten dollars. However, there is a profile view where one can park for free and walk up hill about a quarter of a mile to the front of the sculpture. So we would like to say that we walked to honor the artist, but in part it is because we are poor and cheap = ) It was very interesting. It is something we are both glad we went to see, but are not really sure what words to use to describe it. Oh while there we also saw a mountain goat…just hanging out = ). Ok so we moved on down the road, and if you don’t know the majority of South Dakota is land…not people. We stopped in one small town named Scenic that had a population of 77 people. Most bizarre little town!!! After that stopped we continued down the road and passed through the town of Deadwood which is where Wild Bill is buried. We discovered that the border into Wyoming was not to far, and that we may even be able to see Devils Tower before dark. So we continued down the road and made it to Devils Tower, and it is there that we both became very aware of the sacredness of nature. The tower itself takes your breath away!! Native American Tribes spent there winters there and considered the land sacred. There are prayer flags and prayer bundles that hang in trees and permanent signs asking you not to disturb them. When we walked up to the Tower we did not talk much, and if we did we were very quiet!!! The sun was setting and the colors and the sounds were…there just are no words. We decided to stay the night at the campground at Devils Tower and hike the paths in the morning. On our way back to the van to go get a campsite, we stopped to listen to the wind move around the 876 foot tall rock formation and….again there are no words. All I can say is that I had never felt closer to God than I did in that moment!!!! At this point in the trip if I was going to tell anyone to see anything, it would be this. The energy that moves and lives in this place changes you just by being here!!!! We found a campsite for 6 dollars = ) and Sandy made grilled cheese sandwiches while I worked on getting our lantern put together. It is always so good to eat hot food!!!! Right now I am sitting at our picnic table writing the draft of this blog entry. I am writing this under a sky I never realized had so many stars!!!! Tomorrow is my birthday…I feel so very blessed to be spending it here in a place that is filled with so much beauty and depth. I pray that all of you back home feel the energy that we send to you from here!!! So much love!!!! Goodnight!!!!
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