Today we didn’t leave the hotel until 11a, so we were able to have some free time. Most of the kids went shopping or swam in the hotel pool. I’ve been here before, so I decided to do some laundry instead.
At 11a we headed up to Custer National Monument, and then to Rushmore Cave. We’ve toured the cave each time I’ve been here, and it’s always an event. There is a large room at the back of the cave where we sing and do a communion service. Terry has a service that he has done each time, that involves a dramatic reading that’s very effective. I heard some good responses from the kids who were experiencing it for the first time.
After the cave we rode up to Mt. Rushmore. By the time we got up there it was looking pretty stormy, so we decided to get in the building under cover. Good thing we did: hail storms are common up here and we had a pretty good one. Not very large hail, about 3/8′ in diameter, but a lot of it. At one point is was covering the grass like snow, but it melted soon enough once the storm passed. We had to wait awhile but we finally had a break in the rain so we could get down to the amphitheater and sing. We did several pieces a cappella. The choir sounded great, if I do say so myself. I’m pretty sure this is also the first time that Andrew, Thomas & I have sung together. That later became all four of us when Kim joined us on the last piece.
We had planned to stay at Mt. Rushmore and watch the light show that they put on every evening on the mountain, but with more storms coming, Kim decided to head back to the hotel. A good choice as it has been raining pretty hard and lightning off and on since we got back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we head to the Badlands, Wall Drug, and then to Chamberlain to sing at a church we’ve visited every time we’ve come up this way.