Tenting Tonite

We left Randy and Linda in the morning, and started on Phase Two of our Victory Lap. All morning I had the old Civil War song "Tenting Tonight" running through my head. I still can't quite believe that we are doing this. Somehow I just can't picture my
Mom tenting at this age. The concept makes me laugh.

Our first stop was in De Smet where we found this sweet little church from the Laura Ingalls Wilder era. We stayed off the Interstate highway as much as we could and drove through miles of wheat and sunflower fields. I thought I would find the drive boring, but instead it was very peaceful and relaxing.

After several stops along the way we arrived at Mt Rushmore around supper time and set up camp in a little over 15 minutes so we could take in the lighting ceremony at the monument. It was a really good program and at the end of it all the attending veterans were acknowledged and introduced on stage. Standing at the base of the monument and having just watched a presentation of how America's freedoms came to be made it a very moving experience for Jim and all the veterans standing alongside him.

We had a late dinner in a saloon in Keystone. I feel a bit like the Unsinkable Molly Brown tonight.