Final Nostalgic Stop

 We saved Rapid City for our last day in the Black Hills. Hubby and I had two geocaching adventures we planned to do. OFD had some places she wanted to revisit and a brewery on her list.

First on the docket was the Air and Space Museum. We stopped there when we were out in June, but it wasn't open. The gates were open this time.

Again, it had been years since we stopped to see this free museum when the kids were little. I believe aircraft have been added to the display of planes.

There is also a gift shop and a visitors' center. I was pleasantly surprised to see how busy the grounds were on the day we visited. People of all ages were enjoying the pleasant temps.

the B-52 is HUGE!

After completing our geo tasks at the air and space museum, we set off to explore Rapid City and some of the very places OFD wanted to see after all these years.

Stavkirke ~ Chapel in the Hills

another free tourist stop

Although simple in appearance the techniques used to build the church are intricate and a marvel of engineering. The name Stavkirke comes from the use of staves (the large pillers) used to support the church structure.

The first churches would have had simple peaked roofs.The typical stave church became taller and taller, with a series of roofs, each one offset and becoming smaller as the church reached toward the sky. To support all this, an intricate system of beams and additional staves became necessary. In addition to the main body of the church, very often there was built a covered passageway, or "ambulatory", entirely around the outside of the structure. This provided additional protection to the foundation from the harsh weather found in the region.

Douglas fir from the Black Hills was used to build the chapel

An exact replica of the Borgund stave church in Laerdal, Norway built in 1100s. The Norwegian department of Antiquities provided a set of blueprints for the Chapel in the Hills.

The Chapel in the Hills was dedicated July 6, 1969. It was the home for Lutheran Vespers, a radio ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

 the visitor center and gift shop

An authentic grass-roofed "stabbur," or store house, was built in Norway, shipped to Rapid City, and reassembled on the grounds. A Norwegian family lived upstairs and the animals were kept on the lower level, especially in the winter.

detailed wood carvings on the stabbur

The woodcarvings are the result of a combined effort by Mr. Erik Fridstrom, one of Norway's best woodcarvers, and a local Rapid City resident, Mr. Helge Christiansen. 

A number of pastors were called to the Chapel, and a resident pastor served the Chapel until 2004. At that time it was decided to hire a manager and use local pastors serving Lutheran churches in the Rapid City area to preside over the evening worship services and weddings. Through all these changes the visitors have still remained, so the chapel remains, ministering to all those who seek a quiet place of contemplation, meditation, and prayer. Today the Chapel sees 20,000 to 25,000 visitors a year and hosts numerous weddings and vow renewals, along with other special services.

Then we drove to Dinosaur Park on Skyline Drive overlooking Rapid City. Dedicated on May 22, 1936, it contains seven dinosaur sculptures on a hill overlooking the city, created to capitalize on the tourists coming to the Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore.

Constructed by the city of Rapid City and the Works Progress Administration, WPA Project #960. The dinosaurs were designed by Emmet Sullivan. Sullivan also created the dinosaur at Wall Drug and other statues in the US.

The dinosaurs were constructed out of 2 inch black iron pipe, with a wire mesh frame and a concrete skin. Originally they were gray in color, but by the 1950s the statues were painted bright green with white undersides. Being constructed in the 1930s, the dinosaurs reflect the thinking of the times, and are not anatomically correct.

Dinosaur Park and Story Book Land are also free and both places have gift shops and snacks.

We ended each day with several rousing games of Farkle. I think I won the most games during our week of play.

Brewery visits are next and last.