Pre-Trip Musings

"Do you want to...?" is how it usually begins. And I go for it every time -- even before the destination is announced. My long-time friend from Oklahoma knows this. She has called in the past saying, "Do you want to go to China?" or "Do you want to go to Alaska?" When we were younger our trips weren't so grand...usually 18-hour day trips around SC on our days off from camp in the mountains of NC.

This time she started something like this..."No self-respecting Indian [she is Chickasaw and Choctaw primarily] should die without seeing Crazy Horse?" I knew what was coming next. "Do you want to go see him with me?" She should have been a lawyer; she knew the answer to that question before she asked. Of course. That is the genesis of our "big adventure" for the summer of 2009. Our goal is Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, and the immediate surroundings in South Dakota.

The sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began this mountain carving of Crazy Horse in 1948; he had worked on Mount Rushmore in 1924. In 1939, Ziolkowski received a letter from Chief Henry Standing Bear, which stated in part "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes, too."

The memorial is a non-profit undertaking, and receives no federal or state funding. On two occasions the federal government offered Ziolkowski $10 million, but he turned the offers down. Ziolkowski felt the project was more than just a mountain carving, and he feared that his plans for the broader educational as well as cultural goals for the memorial would be left behind with federal involvement. Ziolkowski died in 1982. The face of Crazy Horse was completed and dedicated in 1998. (Not without controversy, some American Indian activists -- most notably Russell Means -- have criticized this sculpture as exploitative of Lakota culture and Crazy Horse's memory as well as desecrating sacred ground.)

The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is still far from completion. If finished, it will be the world's largest statue. (Check out the picture at the bottom of this page -- it shows the actual progress as of June 2008.)

Everything that follows will be lagniappe as we wend our way home (back to Oklahoma) tentatively through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. If we decide we've had enough fun along the way before completing our aggressive itinerary (AAA estimates our trip to be around 3,500 miles), we'll just hang a left and head back to Oklahoma -- I'm flying home from there (thanks to son James and a buddy pass) -- and tackle the rest on another "great adventure."

Our trip begins in Springfield, MO on Sunday, June 21st after my niece's wedding on the 20th. My friend is driving over to meet me. Our first attraction will be Fantastic Caverns just outside Springfield. Then onward to South Dakota (with miles and miles of miles and miles along the way). If we see something of interest (such as the largest ball of yarn in the world -- we are easily amused), we'll probably be tempted to detour to it.

So, check us out along our journey...without reservations.