It was a very pleasant morning and we took a gentle stroll for a few blocks around the hotel. We were surprised to see a statue of George Washington right outside the hotel so I took Linda’s picture with George. When we crossed the street we found Ronald Reagan for another photo-op. Walking to the next corner we found John Adams and later Thomas Jefferson. It gradually dawned on us (Duh!) that they might have statues for all the presidents, which indeed they do. No way were we going to do them all so we stopped with just these.

I was very impressed with Rapid City. For a city of about 70,000, they have a great many parks, a civic center, a fine museum and a neat downtown area with a delightful Main Street Square. This is a public space used for all sorts of activities, including a water fountain play area for the kids — they were having a blast

In the afternoon we convened at the hotel and met Marilyn, our leader, and Ron, our coach driver. There are 31 of us on the tour and we all climbed onto the bus for the first time to travel to the Journey Museum.

While we explored the museum, there was a very impressive thunderstorm with wind, rain and hail. We then had a very nice meal there at the museum. Marilyn handed out the detailed itinerary for the trip and explained the ground rules we need to follow to have a pleasant adventure. We all then introduced ourselves to the group, after which we returned to the hotel.