This is a change – only a few sprinkled clouds in the sky with the only thunder coming from the chugging Harley’s in the parking lotand on the roadand in back alleysand in every nook and cranny you can imagine.
So we hit the road back the way we came to revisit the Black Hills – this time in daylight as the clouds slip into the distance behind Crazy Horse on our way to the big ticket item in the area…
Vacation Villages Of America Photo Gallery
Mt Rushmore in splendid morning light – the blue clear sky almost painful after all those days of clouds and rain.
While we’re not the very first down the walkway of the America’s, we still could’ve chosen front row parking if we’d wanted, though, being there this early. Which makes this stop sort of neat because.
Timbers dredged up in the basin are thought to be from one of the ‘Swifts’ which carried passengers from Edinburgh to Falkirk in three and a half hours. Pulled by two horses (changed periodically) they had prior right of way and charged along in style. The M8 has small tunnels under it for the use of wildlife. After a spell without bridges, numbers 16, 17 and 18 come in quick succession. By the attractive setting of Bridge 16, Nellfield Bridge, you may spot the narrowboat Thomas Telford, normally moored in that idyllic spot. Bridge 17 is a fine high arch with Clifton Hall School to the north, Bridge 18 has a rustic feel (with railings), then, quite dramatically, you reach the high Almond Aqueduct. There is little warning: you round a bend and are on it. On the other side there is a basin, wharf and car park, with the major feeder for the travel destination alongside. Upstream lies Almondell (and Calderwood) Country Park, which is well worth a diversionary visit and will be described in the next section. The car park opposite can be reached from Newbridge, taking the B7030 which passes under the railway, M8 and the Bonnington Aqueduct.
