We're now sitting in our living room catching up on The Bachelorette. We all agree that the trip was one of our best with ratings ranging from 4 to 5 stars out of 5. Here are some highs and lows from the last two days in Custer State Park:

Horseback Trail Ride: this was Mac's #1 priority for the trip, and it met all of his expectations. From the barn, we had a great view of Crazy Horse Memorial, which brings me to...

Crazy Horse Memorial: Dan and I were left with many perplexing questions. Why was the museum focused so much on the life and family of the sculptor, and not on Crazy Horse himself and the Lakota people? Why does the white family of the sculptor control the funds and timeline? Why does everyone accept the sculptor's choice not to accept state or federal funds, even after his death and even after the project has taken more than 60 years so far? We don't have satisfying answers to these questions, but via extensive research, I have discovered that other people and journalists have posed the very same ones.

Wind Cave: I also had questions about the Wind Cave, some about the Lakota people, the original discoverers of the cave. These questions were not adequately answered by Park Ranger Jenny, I think because she had only worked at Wind Cave National Park for three weeks. I'm not trying to judge, but I'm not sure that Jenny actually had the appropriate level of intellectual curiosity about the Wind Cave. She told me she'd rather be in the law enforcement division of park rangering, rather than leading cave tours. This showed. 

Evan's Plunge Mineral Pool: Wow. This place sucked. We went because hot springs are usually good for my skin, but we all hated this venue and cannot recommend it. I'll describe it in three adjectives: dirty, dated, and lame. And my skin is not improved.

The 10-hour Drive Home: We finished listening to Jurassic Park and no one yelled at anyone. Pretty amazing. 

I can't wait to plan our next trip, which will be to L.A. in January. Maybe I'll have my Harry Potter tattoo by the time we visit his World.