Custer day 2

Sun 5th
A little cooler today and we survived the night without the air conditioner.
Today we decided to do the Needles Hwy proper. A bit of studying last night showed that the piece oh Hwy 87 that we did yesterday was not the part of 87 they call the Needles Hwy. First though it was off to the Crazy Horse monument. When we arrived there was only half a dozen bikes in the bike park, others may have been battling hangovers. We watched the short movie about how it all came to be and the progress that has been made since 1947. The exhibits in the museum kept us busy until we got on the bus for a short tour to the back part and to the foot of the carving. As we were leaving we met another couple of kiwis that had hired bikes, they soon understood why we bought one. There were a group of about 6 bikes around ours that had stickers of kiwis on them and the park was a lot fuller than when we arrived. The Needles Hwy was next and what a cool ride, nice twisters through the trees and amongst the magnificent rock formations. This is a ride I was recommended and I would say a must for anyone that is in the area.
The Iron Mountain Rd was the next piece of road that needed to be travelled. Again a twisty road (314 curves and 14 switch-backs  in 17 miles) but this time with 3 tunnels (2 of which framed Mt Rushmore in the distance) and 3 pigtail bridges that keeps the road curling around itself so that you go under the bridge you just crossed. This road brought us to Mt Rushmore where we stopped for a look. Parking cost $10 for a bike but we only paid $5 (the senior rate)
On the way back to Custer, at the turn off to Crazy Horse, we saw remains of a collision, a pick up and something else (I didn't see any damaged bikes though.
It was a busy area with the emergency vehicles and all the traffic.
Before heading back to the motel we stopped at the Purple Pie Place (again recommended) for a bite of pie and ice cream, I had an American iconic dish, Apple Pie, yum. Vicki had a slice of blueberry pie and was not pleased with it.
A dip in the spa and pool was on the cards before dinner, then another romantic evening doing the laundry.
We had planned a night ride back to Crazy Horse to watch a laser light show at 9.30 but the evening thunder and rain put us off, we weren't totally disappointed though as we got to see an awesome lightning show. The forked lightning filled the night sky.