Five Countries Four Marlboroughs: Mount Rushmore, the mall and the end of our 'tour'

We woke up bright and early and opened the blinds in the lodge – had the fog cleared? Nope, the fog was still there and as thick as ever. We knew our chances of seeing the Crazy Horse Memorial were out, however we were all in hope we could see Mt Rushmore. Mt Rushmore is significantly smaller (the whole four presidents fit in Crazy Horse's head) so maybe we were in with a chance. We arrived, walked through the flags at the entry and there......wasn’t Mt Rushmore. We decided to walk the Presidents Loop at the edge of the mountain with the hope the fog would lift and we would be close enough to see the monument. Not a chance! However, we loved seeing the little squirrels and pikas jumping all around. So no Crazy Horse, and no Mt Rushmore! For some weird reason, I just found it funny that we had driven all that way and didn't see either monument. How many people can say that?!

Rather than meet up with the tour at Bear Country USA (we have seen bears in the wild now so nothing can compare) we decided to head to a mall in Rapid City. We haven’t really been to a shopping mall on the trip and, as it was really windy and rainy, it was our perfect chance. We spent a few hours there and decided on lunch at Fuddruckers – yep you heard right, Fuddruckers. I had never heard of this chain before however I was assured the burgers were the ‘best in the world’. I asked the waitress for a table for four. She couldn’t understand a word I said. I rephrased by holding up four fingers – yep, she got it then. Once seated, Terry asked another waitress about root beer. He wanted to know what was in it. “Hi, can you tell me what is in root beer?’ Her response, ‘Does she work here?’ We have discovered, many people can't understand us in these country towns! They are also fascinated when we speak and rarely meet Australians. I've been told many, many times how much they LOVE our accent - what accent? I've been asked to just talk so people can listen to my voice - well, of course there were no problems with that!

That night, we had the farewell dinner for the tour. Although we were the phantom tour members, we had gotten to know quite a few of our fellow travellers well and we had a great night reminiscing about the tour highlights. One of our fellow travellers was a lady by the name of Doris, and immediately I was taken aback as she was the spitting image of my beloved nana. Doris was nearly 87 and we got along like a house on fire. She told me how she had once been a sheep farmer and had written a book about her experiences whilst her husband was away at sea as a ships captain. I couldn't believe i had met a lady who resembled and spoke like my nana. Doris is sending me a copy of her book in the post. We also had a special guest on the night, an Sioux Indian dancer. Steven shared with us the story of his upbringing and then performed a traditional war dance. The dance was performed prior to going to war or after a victory. As soon as the dance started I looked at the boys faces to see their reaction as the dance was very lively, loud and very, very different. I could hear James giggling into Terry T-shirt - he thought it was funny. Later that night, we said our goodbyes to our new found friends and had a early one as we had a seven hour drive to Denver the next day for our flight to LAS VEGAS!!!!!

Driving to Mount Rushmore

I wonder if we will be able to see the memorial?

Not a chance! Our Mt Rushmore photo!

Starting the Presidents Walk

Woohoo, a squirrel

A squirrel in a tree dropped a pine cone right on James's head before bolting off into the forest

Action Pika

An ambulance pic for you Kylie

I kid you not, Fuddruckers!

More hamburgers - there are no healthy options over here. The only options are burgers with fries, burgers with onion rings or burgers with mozzarella sticks. I am going on a detox when i get home!