From South Dakota back to Denver

After half a day spent in the Badlands, direction Wall Drug. Once upon a time, there was a guy, who owned a small drugstore in a small city named Drug, and he was not very happy because nobody would stop at his shop. Then he had the idea to add a sign "Free iced water". And because the weather was so damn hot and dry, a few cars had stopped at his shop even before he had time to go back to his counter. The tiny drugstore has now grown into a full street of restaurants, cafés, shops and museums, but they still give free iced water. There are a few French tourists there, enjoying one of the restaurants. They have hired Harley Davidsons and ride through the US.

The next visits will be for Mount Rushmore, Keystone which is the city built at the bottom of the mount, and Crazy Horse Memorial. Mount Rushmore has been built on the holy Indian lands without their agreement, so they had decided to dedicate another monument to one of their most famous chief, Crazy Horse. Because the Indian community does not accept the money offered by the government to build the monument, they don't expect it to be finished before another 70 or 80 years minimum. Today, you can just see the model, and Crazy Horse's face in the rock, but the Indian museum is definitely worth going there.

Picnic in the middle of nowhere, at Lusk, where the sherif comes to say hello. It seems that they don't see French tourists here very often ;)

On the way to Cheyenne, Fort Laramie deserves a stop. It does not look like the forts you can see in the films, surrounded by high walls made of wood. There was no wall to protect them, it was just part of what was implemented by the government to help the pioneers on their way to the West, on the Oregon Trail. There they could sell and buy different goods, see a doctor, send and receive letters, under the protection of the army...

In Cheyenne, the State Capitol can be visited without any appointment, and without having to go through heavy security checks. A nice opportunity to visit the building, the chambers and their beautiful stained-glass windows.

Last step before going back to Denver, the Rocky Mountains National Park, with the highest point of the road above 3700 meters. It is still full of snow (and snow balls still fly very well during summer !).

After a few more antelops and deers, back to Denver, end of the loop, ready to fly to new adventures !!!