Day 2: Tumbleweed, caves and faces



Our first day in the USA starts with a pretty serious roadtrip of 600 km. Since we are both already awake at 07.00 we decide to leave early. After a small continental breakfast (some toast with jam and a glass of cold milk) we start our engines at 07.45. The scenery during our trip is mostly beautiful; near Denver we started with a wide view finished with a big mountainrange in the far distance, but dirng our trip this environment changes to slightly hilled wheatland with sometimes beautiful rockformations. Along the way we almost hit a few branches of tumbleweed, twirling across the mainroad. It really feels like your in an old cowboymovie when that happens.

After about 5 hours driving we arrive at our first destination of today; Windcave National park. Here we have a guided tour through a deep and very big underground cave with a discovered length of 134 miles (approximately 5 to 10 % of what is really out there). It is amazing to see the many hallways and chambers that are created here by nature. Unfortunately we only get to see a very small part of the caves as the are discovered now, but it gives a very good impression of what must be out there. Geologists are still discovering new parts of the cave, making 4 day long expeditions (it takes them an astonishing 8 hours to even reach the point from where they start discovering).

We continue our tour to Mount Rushmore, the wellknown rocksculpture of the 4 presidents. In real the sculptures are impressive, the 20 meter tall heads look really like the persons they must present. We make a few of Americas most famous pictures alongside the road (parking here costs 10 dollar, crazy!) and continue our way to the hotel 3 km further. From the balcony that comes with our room we can see Mount Rushmore far uphill. Lighted at night it creates a very special sight.