Mount Rushmore

After we left Custer State Park, we headed to Mount Rushmore itself. I was so excited!

 We started being able to see Mount Rushmore from pretty far away, although there was still a ways to go. We could barely see the faces on the mountain between the two trees in the center of the above picture.

 The road between CSP and Mount Rushmore was narrow and had lots of switchbacks and three awesome tunnels carved through rock. They were so fun!

 We got out at one overlook to stretch our legs. Jed didn't want to get out, so he just stayed in the car to rest. He was still feeling a little sick from the day before, when he had thrown up twice (although not in the car, thank goodness) so I wasn't going to push him to do anything he didn't feel up for. Hank had a great time walking around with his blankie and George for company.

 He loved pointing out all the "stars" on this display.

 Aren't we cute? You can sort-of see Mount Rushmore just to the right of Dave's shoulder.

 The road went through that rock, across the bridge and down and around to where our car was located. It was a gorgeous, twisty drive.

 Getting much closer!

 Hooray!

 Finally, we were there! In case you decide to go to Mt Rushmore any time soon, be advised that it will cost you $11 to park, but admission to the site itself is free. And your parking ticket is good for the rest of the year! Which is so nice, because you can just drop by any time.

 That little dark hole in the center of the picture is one of the tunnels on the road. It was so fun to pop out of the tunnel and be able to see Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt looking back at us.

 There are a series of terraces leading up to the viewing platform. The first has a bookstore and the bathrooms and then a walkway. The second terrace has a gift shop and couple of small restaurants and this walkway, which is lined with flags from each of the 50 states. And then there is the main viewing terrace, which offers a spectacular view of Mount Rushmore.

 There were a couple of field trips at the monument, but overall it was less crowded than I expected. We gazed in awe for a few minutes and then decided to take the "presidential trail" which leads around the base of the monument and has lots of different views and information.

 The first thing we saw along our walk was these mountain goats. They were totally unperturbed by all the tourists taking their picture. I am not sure what Mama was wearing around her neck. 

 We saw sooooo many different angles of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, including straight up George's nose! One of my favorite things we saw were the huge boulders at the base of the carving with the grinding marks still on them. When the monument was being carved, the artists would just pound in their irons, break off the rock and let them fall to the base of the mountain. You can see a good one in the center near the bottom of this photo.

 Part of the trail was mostly stairs. Hank had done really well on the flat parts but needed some help on all those stairs. I smugly thought "I'm so glad we didn't come up this way!" but we got our uphill section later...when Hank wanted me to carry him.

 Jed came down the stairs v e r y  s l o w l y.

 There was way more to see at Mount Rushmore than just the 4 big faces, and again I wished we would have had a whole day to spend. One thing which we skipped almost entirely was the main artist's workshop. There were lots of small busts and other little statues he had done, as well as some of his tools and journals. I didn't take time to look at any of it, but I did manage to grab a picture of this beautiful fireplace. So gorgeous!

 One last view of the guys. By this time Hank was super cranky and Jed was going a little crazy. We basically ran back to the car, made lunch, and headed on our way.

But not before we learned that Thomas Jefferson came up with the first recipe for ice cream in America. Tommy has always been one of my very favorite presidents, and this just adds to my love for him. Sadly, we didn't "grab a taste of history," although I sorely wanted to.

Even though it was slightly out of our way and took up a valuable morning of driving, I am SO glad we stopped to see Mount Rushmore. It was spectacular. There was so much to do there, you could easily spend a week in the area, exploring the state parks, caves, and funny little attractions nearby. It is totally worth it.