Mount Rushmore and Hill City

It was almost freezing here last night. Bill says it was only 40 degrees out when he got up about 3:30 because he was so cold. At 8:00 it is still only 45! He is back under the covers and told me to let him know when it warms up. I think I mentioned that the RV's electric furnace is not working so we can only heat with propane now. Sure glad we had a full tank as we've had to use it a lot lately. Hopefully for him we will be heading south now and it should get warmer.
This is our campground here in Hill City. Firehouse Campground $41, good WiFi, electric and water. Back in. More or less level. 

 Several old firetrucks parked around the campground. 

When it finally warmed up enough we set out for Mount Rushmore. Parking was easy. $10 or $5 with Golden Age Pass. You get your ticket as you go in then have to pay for it at a kiosk once up towards the main level. 
Walking towards the faces after paying for the parking. Several people were upset that they could not take their dogs in. Really upset! No way to get this picture without someone else in it.

Inside the area where the gift shop and cafe are. This is as close as you can get. See the barricade? 

Looking through the fence. 

Taken from in front of the Cafe.

And here is George.

Thomas. The eyes look real. Even his eyebrows. 

Teddy and Abe. The curls in the beard and the glasses look so real. 

Hard to imagine doing that kind of work on that scale. Their skin looks so smooth. 
The monument was started in 1927 and finished in 1941.

  

He has written a book and was signing it for people who bought one. Line was longer then I wanted to wait in. He has got to be in his 90's

 Didn't stay there too long. I'm sure glad we were there in 2003 when everything was open.  

Driving back to Hill City. The famous profile shot.  

 Sure are a lot of rugged rock in this area. 

Back to Hill City where we parked and walked around for a while. Saw some incredible art work there. 

A closer look at some of the work in him. I think I found all the horses and the face. Really look at the pictures to see everything he used to make the horse. 

What an amazing piece of work. And here is another one quite a bit smaller. 

We discovered a very good restaurant where we had a late lunch and then visited a couple of art galleries and saw some amazing stuff which I will share with you tomorrow. 
We have, for us, a long driving day tomorrow 175 miles to Guernsey, WY for a few days.