The Simpsons and Crazy Horse
We spent most of today in Rapid City, hunting for a train for Lucas. You see, he’s traveled all the way across the country with his model DeLorean from Back to the Future 3, in hopes of finding a train that can push it, just like in the movie.
Unfortunately, the car is in “car scale”, and the trains are all made in “train scale” and they just don’t mesh. Try explaining that to an autistic kid who’s just brought a car 2000 miles for a train!
Of course, we saw lots of great train models and he DID find a small engine that he wanted. Luckily, we bought tickets this morning for a ride on an 1880’s steam train that runs through the Black Hills, so he’ll enjoy that like he always does.
Another thing we gave up to afford children was going to the movies. What we didn’t know at the time was that saving them for vacation helps Lucas, because it gives him a little bit of “movietime” without him being obsessed by it. We saw “The Simpson’s Movie”, which he throughly enjoyed.
Our campground also offers nightly busses to take campers to either the Crazy Horse memorial or Mt. Rushmore. We visited Crazy Horse tonight to see the new laser light show we had heard about.
We toured the spacious facilities, seeing the short movie about the making of this enormous monument to the American Indian, and visted the museum and gift shops. Then we found a seat on the veranda, and prepared to be amazed.
We weren’t. Amazed, that is.
This place has always held a special place in our hearts, as I’m sure it does for most people who have seen learned about Crazy Hourse and how this mountain came to hold his likeness. It just didn’t seem the right setting for brightly colored, neon looking lights shooting across the sky, prefaced by several ads for the sponsors fo the show.
We’ll come back during the day sometime, when all the native American artists and craftsmen are here. Maybe that will help us feel back in tune with the place.