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It’s a good thing we didn’t choose to climb Devils Tower in addition to dancing the night away. We were plenty tired just from the dancing, so we declared Sunday to be a day for R&R. It was spent in Rapid City, getting acquainted with this interesting town.
Driving by the Canyon Lake Senior Center, we noticed the doors open and stopped in. We found the cleanup crew busy inside sprucing up from last night’s festivities. Lest any viewer think I’m prone to exaggeration at times, here’s an unedited photo of this superlative hall. Despite its slick surface, the big maple floor is obviously used for more than dancing.
The name of this facility is “Viking Hall”, after a large and beautifully executed mural of a Viking ship on the back wall.
Down the road apiece from this senior center is a different sort of attraction.
It’s called the “Stavkirke Chapel” and is an exact copy of the famous 12th century Borgund Church in Norway. Featuring intricate wood carvings, strange dragon heads and ingenious pegged construction, it was built by Rapid City's Scandinavian residents in 1969.
The interior craftsmanship is just as unusual as the exterior:
Rapid City seems to have more beauty spots than we have time to enjoy. Here, for example, is a scene overlooking one of the city’s four formal gardens:
If we plan properly, we may have time for a bike ride on the city’s attractive greenbelt before our visit ends.
Tomorrow, rested and refreshed, we hope to get serious about seeing the Black Hills, with Mt. Rushmore our #1 priority.