Leaving Lusk, WY at 6:11pm (after another guy from Florida stopped me to ask questions and take a photo) I rushed to get to Custer, SD to see something that Randy had recommended. Along the way I listened to “The Home Theater Geek” as he tried to solve the entertainment system problems of his listeners. Later the discussion was about the latest installment of The Planet of the Apes movies. He was broadcasting from Petaluma, CA and here I was hearing it in Wyoming!

I entered South Dakota at 7:10pm with 162 range remaining and temp at 92 degrees. The welcome sign said, “Great Faces, Great Places”. As I drove through Edgemont, SD I saw the longest fully loaded coal train as the highway went high over the train tracks. The terrain sloped uphill then down again repeatedly. Approaching Custer, there were signs of logging and then I passed a big sawmill. Custer was bigger than any place I had passed in a while but I forged on to several miles North where I stopped to take photos of the Crazy Horse Memorial. This 3D mountain carving was begun in 1948 and work on it continues today. This is one of Randy’s favorite stops. Thanks Randy!

I left Crazy Horse Mountain at 8:20pm and hurried since the sun was going down fast. By 8:45pm I had reached Mount Rushmore. When I first pulled over to see if there was a view, I exclaimed out loud, “Hey! It’s George’s face!”.  This was very amusing to the other tourists who were stopped there too. After a few quick photos, I moved on and snapped more down the road. That was it for the presidents, and I headed to Rushmore Mall in Rapid City, SD to supercharge.

I arrived at 9:30pm with 80 miles of range left, odometer 16,924 and temp of 82 degrees. At 10:10pm a gray Tesla pulled up with Dan and Shannon from the Twin Cities. They were heading West to see the Tesla Fremont factory. But, they said how disappointed they were to learn that there would be no factory tours in July. However, they were ready to have a fun visit to California.

I left at 10:30pm with 204 range. The drive from there was too dark to see anything except for some impressive fireworks displays ongoing until about 11pm. At 11:11pm I crossed the Cheyenne River, neared the 100 mile marker on Interstate 90, and entered a rest area to get some sleep. I set my alarm to prepare for my Sunday journey.