I went ahead and hiked around the monument, taking a number of good photos, while Grandma and Grandpa stayed behind to check out the visitor's center and some less intense trails down below. Below are some photos I took on the way around.
I've tried to include some unusual views of the monument, because I believe it should be familiar by sight from the front.
Finally, before we left Devil's Tower, we took some photos of each other; the results are below.
We moved on from Devil's Tower to Rapid City, staying there for the night. As we were leaving for dinner, the wind almost picked Grandma up and send her right home to Minneapolis, but we managed to catch her first. We ate at Ruby Tuesday, and while we were waiting for our order, Grandma and Grandpa took a selfie together, which was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. I don't have my hands on the photo itself, so you're not seeing it now, but I'll see if I can get my hands on it, if only to see it myself.
After Rapid City, we headed down to Mount Rushmore. I'd thought it'd be a bit more relaxed of a route, but it turned out to be pretty winding, which was probably not the easiest thing for Grandma to handle. She and I ended up splitting the driving load today, though, which helped a bit.
We arrived and we approached the monument. It was fairly cloudy, so it wasn't the best of times to visit, but we took photos and enjoyed some hot chocolate there regardless.
We got a group picture courtesy of a European traveler...
...and eventually we moved on from there and headed north and then back east. We ended up in Mitchell, South Dakota, and are staying at a Holiday Inn for the night. For dinner, we had Fajitas for 2 at El Columpio, which was some of the best Mexican food I've ever tasted. It was much more than we needed, as well, so some amount of it will be eaten at a later time.
While the trip has been enjoyable on the whole and was a delight at times for all three of us, Grandpa's leg pain has remained throughout the trip, and he believes further trips, domestic or international, will be out of the question, at least as long as his leg pain remains.
As for me, while I've taken great comfort in the times when I've been able to serve as a safe driver so my grandparents could rest, it's been a struggle for me, as well. If I let Grandpa drive, Grandma tends to distract him with comments and questions, while Grandma on the whole is a better situation. My choice, then, since Torrington, is to prefer myself driving as much as possible, and letting Grandma drive as much as is necessary beyond that.
We might have been able to come back to Minneapolis late tonight (Saturday), but we would have been in around 10, and I would have been driving about five hours longer than was likely safe, to say nothing of the additional stress on Grandma and Grandpa of driving another several hours with minimal rest. No, stopping here in Mitchell was a good thing. The fajitas were absolutely spectacular, and El Columpio has my highest recommendation if you're ever in Mitchell and want something to eat.
We've visited a lot of strange and interesting places along the way, but I think El Columpio is the best restaurant we've been to.
We should be back in the cities around lunchtime if all goes well tomorrow. Thanks for reading!
Noah
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