When we were Workamping and living in our Coachman Motorhome, we contracted for Workamping jobs in the Winter in the southwestern states and summer jobs in the northern states.
It was early spring when we were offered and accepted a Workamper Job with the Mt. Rushmore History Association as Cashiers at the Book Stores in Keystone, SD. We were to arrive on May 1st for our first day of work. We arrived near Keystone in a snowstorm so severe that we not only had second thoughts about the job but were unsure of our location. We saw a sign for Custer’s Gulch RV Park and pulled in because we wanted to stop driving in the snowstorm! It was impossible to tell where the parking spots were, so we just stopped.
Spotting the “Office” sign, we knocked on the door. The people at the office were very nice and let us stay the night, even though they weren’t yet open for the season. We discovered the season is quite short in South Dakota, as you can imagine. The next morning it started melting and was gone by the next day.
We were offered an RV space, contracted by the Historical Society for $1.25 per hour each, and this amount would be deducted from our pay. We chose to contract with another company and pay for it, keeping the $1.25. As it turned out, it was to our advantage, as the first week, one of the Workamper’s wives was taken to the hospital and was out of commission for several weeks, so we volunteered to work overtime, which meant we worked 6 days a week and did grocery shopping and Laundry on our day off. By the time she could return to work and we were back on a 5-day workweek, we were exhausted, but considerably richer, as the most we paid for our site and electricity was about $400.00 a month. She returned to work and completed her contract, and by the time we left, she appeared to be in good health.
We decided on Holy Smoke RV Park, as very few RV Parks or Resorts are open until May 15th. Holy Smoke RV Park was essentially a site with full hook-ups, but it lacked amenities, except for deer and wild turkeys, which were sometimes right next to our Motorhome. Several times, we had to wait for them to clear the road so we could exit the park. We also learned to drive down the mountain at night with our high beams on, as deer crossed the road at their leisure. We heard that there is at least one deer hit every year. The owner also owned the Holy Smoke Restaurant, located just a short climb up the hill from the park, which served Buffalo Steaks. YUM YUM!! By the way, Buffalo steaks or burgers have to be cooked rare or medium-rare, or they are like shoe leather! Hard to imagine that something that good is actually good for you.
The nearest Walmart was located in Rapid City, approximately 30 miles away, and Laundry was situated in Hill City, about 12 miles away. Red Rover loved the drive, as it was all on a four-lane highway. During the tourist season, as you can imagine, prices skyrocket with the arrival of tourists; everything in Keystone becomes more expensive than we are willing to pay. We discovered a great place to do laundry! In Hill City, there is a gas station, deli, laundry, and casino on the main street. You did notice that there was a Casino, right? Most of the time, while our clothes were drying, we played a little. We won enough money most of the time to pay not only for our Laundry but also to drive to Rapid City and buy our week’s groceries. We are not real serious gamblers; if we win with our $10.00, we stay; if not, we leave. The first week, we went to Rapid City for groceries and Gas. We stopped at a little Casino called Jokers, and I walked out with $148.00. We didn’t win all the time, but it was fun when we did.
Cashiering is not difficult. Learning the somewhat antiquated computer system was somewhat of a challenge, when in the middle of a very large order the computer shut down, we sweat a little trying to remain calm; smiling when we had to “reboot” and start all over again, while keeping people from charging like angry Rhinos to get their purchases rang up so they could catch their tour buses, or get on with their tour. Sometimes, we just want to say, “Calm down, you’re on vacation!” We understood that no one loves to stand in line, but we could only do what we could do.
We worked in one of three stores, but rarely in the same one on two consecutive days. As you enter the park through the large granite arches on the right, you will find the Information Center, which is staffed by a Ranger or two during the busy season, along with a small bookstore. They also rent wheelchairs (for free)! Directly across the Granite walkway is the Audio Tour building, where you can rent Audio Wands to hear information about the sights you’re seeing and about the park. On either side of the Audio Tour building, in huge letters, are signs for the Men’s and Ladies’ Rooms. Several times a day, a frantic vacationer would come in, interrupt another customer, and say, “Where’s the restroom?” After a few weeks on the job, we would point with a smile across the walkway.
As you walk up the 200-yard Granite Walkway, you will see a bust of Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor, on the left, and on the right is a plaque listing the names of all 400 workers. The amazing thing to me is that he scouted the Black Hills on horseback for weeks to find this mountain. He looked at it and decided that it would be perfect. He didn’t have any of the modern technologies to ascertain that it could be sculpted; I say sculptured, for want of a better word. By the way, 90% of the sculpting was done with dynamite. When the guys first started working with the dynamite, they complained of headaches. When they started wearing gloves, the headaches stopped. One of the ingredients in the Dynamite is nitroglycerin.
By the way, there were minor accidents during the sculpting of the mountain, but no one lost their life, and the cost was less than a million dollars. By today’s rules and regulations, it could not have been done. Most of the workers were miners, so they were familiar with the tools and the concepts.
As you continue up the walkway, a huge gift shop is located on the left, and a restaurant is situated on the right. As you continue up to the sculptures, lined with granite pillars featuring flags of each of the states and several provinces. At this point, if you are not awed by the spectacle of the magnificent faces, wait until you get to the Grand View Terrace! You can look at “the guys” (as we called them) through the Viewers or take tons of pictures. Many times, I took visitors’ point-and-shoot cameras and took pictures of them with their faces as the background. We are probably in hundreds of pictures just going to and from work.
You may see several White Mountain Goats just walking in the park and feeding. Many times, we tell people that they are not tame, but photography enthusiasts try to get close and sometimes even attempt to take a picture of themselves beside a goat or, worse, a picture of their children beside or on the back of a goat. One of the Rangers’ jobs is to protect visitors from themselves and their enthusiasm. The goats are not indigenous to the area. A brilliant bureaucrat decided it would be great to have several on display for visitors to Custer State Park and had a large, fenced arena built specifically for them. Guess what? He forgot that they are Mountain Goats and can climb! They promptly got out and went up into the mountains, never to be rounded up. They multiplied, and you may see them along the road and if you climb the mountains. In fact, sometimes, when looking through binoculars, you can spot them on the Presidents’ heads.
Now that you are at Grand View Terrace, you will not only see the faces, but looking down, you can see the open auditorium with the stage. You can take two flights of stairs down or use the elevator to access the main floor, which includes the Ranger Station, the largest Bookstore, the Borglum Museum, Movie Theaters, and additional bathrooms. When you look out through the full wall windows, you will see the Sculptures. Every night, a patriotic presentation featuring a movie is held, and all past and present Veterans are invited up on stage for the flag-lowering ceremony. I have seen the Rangers make special arrangements for disabled Veterans to get to the stage. It is very moving, and most people have tears in their eyes. Sometimes, just telling tourists about it, we get a little misty-eyed.
If you’re into hiking, there’s the Presidents’ Trail that takes you as close as possible to the mountain and down to the Sculptures Studio. At the Sculptures Studio, there is a “Ranger talk” several times a day. Gutzon actually used the studio, and there is a 1/12-scale model of the faces on the mountain. I have taken many pictures of people in front of them. Another side note: when you get down to the Sculpture Studio, the only way back to Grand View Terrace is by taking a lot of steps or retracing your path back up the President’s Trail. The Sculpture Studio does not have a public restroom; however, one is located about halfway up the steps. I worked there a lot, and that was the hardest thing to say no to people. Sometimes, people got down there and realized that they could not climb the stairs, and we called the rangers to arrange transportation back. Several times, we have had to call the Rangers to come and retrieve people who collapsed due to the strain and lack of water. We have a fountain at the Sculpture’s Studio, but no water for sale. The Rangers could make arrangements for the handicapped to drive down, but due to the very small parking lot, it could not be open to the public. I climbed the stairs once, and that was enough! When I worked down there and Shirl worked up at the top, I would drop him off and then drive down. There is an electronic gate that our badges would open. I felt a little guilty, but we had already walked enough just getting to work, and we had lost about 30 pounds each.
We were asked to invite people to purchase a yearly membership in the Historical Society. They received a 15% discount at all bookstores in any National Park in the US and 10% at other concessions by Zanterra. They cost $30.00 for an individual membership or $50.00 for a family membership, which included two cards and two audio tours. We received a credit for the sales of these memberships, and at the end of the contract, we were given gift cards, the value of which depended on the number of memberships we sold. We really enjoyed spending them when we got back to Phoenix.
We were given a VIP card and one of the History Society cards, which allowed us to access many of the attractions in the Black Hills. We took advantage of our time to do as much sightseeing as possible. Look on Facebook, and as time permits, I will be posting albums of the attractions that we had time to visit. We really enjoyed our time in South Dakota. The scenery is beautiful, the people are friendly, and the air is fresh and clean.
Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you later…..
Maye West Mysteries Book 1 Murder on Lake HaverlyMaye West Mysteries
Book 2 Options
Immortal Enemies
Spirited One Book 1 The Protector
Spirited One Book 2 James
The end of the Road
Ruby & Nolan’s Great Adventures in Space Book: 1 The Science Project
Ruby & Nolan’s Great Adventures in Space Book: 2 Dragon Flight
Ruby & Nolan’s Great Adventures in Space Book: 3 The Keep
Ruby & Nolan’s Great Adventures in Space Book: 4 The Others
Ruby & Nolan’s Great Adventures in Space Book: 5 Wormhole
Ruby & Nolan’s Great Adventures in Space Book: 6 Merpeople
Ruby & Nolan’s Great Adventures in Space Book: 7 Decisions
Ruby & Nolan’s Great Adventures in Space Book: 8 Irus
Sleep Travelers Book: 1 The Story of Ning, Dog, & Boss
Sleep Travelers Book: 2 The Amusement Park
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