Mount Rushmore

We made it to the Black Hills today!  Woot! Woot!  Mom and Tommy are laughing at me for making special stops to take photos of National signs.  It's not very scenic.








We got our National Forest passports stamped at both the Black Hills Visitor's Center AND Mount Rushmore.  I feel so official! 

The Fam : Rushmore 2013

We also spent two days at Mount Rushmore .  We drove to the monument, paid the entry fee, walked up to the viewing area, took a picture  and then realized that we had to be in Keystone in 15 minutes to catch the train.  Good thing you pay for parking and then you can use the pass for up to a year.  of course, since we are in a rental car if we decide to come back before December (ha ha) we'll have to pay the 11 bucks again! 





 One thing I did read made the teacher in me cringe.  Evidently  people will ask which one was President Rushmore.  Just so you know... it's Washington - First President, Jefferson - Writer of the Declaration, Teddy Roosevelt - Conservationist and common man lover, and Lincoln - United of the Union and freer of the slaves.  

Hall of Flags!

 Somewhere along the way, not sure if it was the train or Rushmore itself, we discovered how Mount Rushmore got it's name. A New Yorker named Charles Rushmore was sent to the area to check on  property titles.  He asked the government what it would take to get a mountain named after him.  They said 5,000.  Money buys fame it seems.  I believe the Sioux called it six grandfathers.  Six Grandfathers National Monument has a nice ring doesn't it?



We rearranged our schedule and headed back to Mount Rushmore the next day.  We've all been there but I had never walked the presidential trail and they had a Lakota Indian village that I wanted to view. I am glad they added the village although I understand some people were against it... Not sure why?

I'm smoke.. Looking up at the Tipi opening from the inside.

Tommy and I inside the tipi.  It was way cool!

 The village held three tipis and had a variety of items to investigate.  From hoof spoons and scrapers to buffalo rope.  They had tipis that were open and you could go in and actually see how it felt to be in a tipi in the outdoors. 


They also had the tipis set up in three different ways.  One was totally open, they other had just the front flap closed and the third had both the smoke flap and the front door closed.

I really like that they have this and hope they expand it in the future.  Founding Fathers are more than just the great white men we always hear about. 

Mom and Tommy outside a closed tipi.

          

After the Indian Village we headed down the trail
and there were LOTS of photo opportunities for the presidents.  I especially liked the one where you can view Washington through a crack in a cave:)

Washington through a cave crack!

Compressor for the sculpture

Hall of Records Replica

 Next down the trail was the sculpture house.  It has a lot of interesting information.  The old compressor for the sculpture was scarily big and there was a replica of the Hall of Records which is a vault behind Rushmore.  I never knew it even existed! 


After viewing that we went back to the museum.  We were hot and tired and Mom's knees were killing her.  We watched the video and toured the museum.  I find it fascinating how they were able to do the explosions so exactly and how they used a plumb line and multiplied by 12 to get the faces just right!

I am such a geek.  It was kind of dry for some but I really enjoyed it.  Tried not to spend too much time but it was hard.  Lots of stuff to read and look at.