It is mid-September and the coach is finally on the
move and our first destination from Minnesota is an area that we haven’t been
to for 40+ years - the Black Hills of South Dakota. Of course, you can well imagine that we would be zeroing in on one of
our nation’s most recognizable and popular icons found in the Southern Black Hills
~ the mighty Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
I think it would be good to
start with a little of its background.
This work of art is one of
the largest sculptures in the world. It
measures 250 feet across and each head is about 60 feet tall. Washington’s head is as tall as the entire
Great Sphinx of Egypt. The noses of the
four presidents are approximately 21 feet long, while the mouths are about 18
feet wide. Men on the scale of the Mount
Rushmore figures would stand as tall as a 40-story building.
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| Took a right turn in the Park and BAM. . . there was George! |
Between October 4, 1927 and
October 31, 1941, sculptor Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers sculpted George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln to
represent the first 150 years of American history at a cost of
$989,992.32. None of the workers died
during the carving which is quite amazing.
Borglum died in March 1941 and was unable to see its completion. His son, Lincoln, continued the project.
It was named after Charles
Rushmore, a New York lawyer investigating mining claims in the Black Hills in
1885. Borglum chose this mountain due to
its height (5700’ above sea level), the soft grainy consistency of the granite
and the fact that it catches the sun for the greatest part of the day.
The presidents were
selected on the basis of what each symbolized.
- · George Washington, the struggle for independence
- · Thomas Jefferson, the idea of government by the people
- · Abraham Lincoln, ideas on equality & permanent union of the states
- · Theodore Roosevelt, the 20th century role of the U.S. in world affairs.
So much has been improved
upon since our last visit to Mount Rushmore and that would start with the
Avenue of Flags; the flags of the 56 states and territories, flying below the
memorial. The avenue leads to the
Grandview Terrace and the Presidential Trail, a half-mile walking trail that
offers spectacular views of the mountain sculpture.
The Evening Sculpture Lighting
Ceremony (9pm nightly May-Sept) is something you’ll want to see. We were pretty bundled up with warm clothing
as it did get into the low 40’s when we were there in mid-September. Ranger Dorothy coordinated the ceremony and
did a great job mingling with the people in the amphitheater beforehand. At the end of the movie she called down from
the audience former and/or current military men and women. It was so natural that all of the audience
wanted to acknowledge their service to their country as the applause brought
goosebumps. It was so awesome and went
on for quite a few minutes, and justly deserved. She then proceeded to have six of the
individuals fold the flag once she lowered it down. Sitting under the sky with stars bright and
having the lighted faces of Mount Rushmore was truly something that we will not
forget.
A little known fact – Made famous
in the movie, “National Treasure, Book of Secrets, the hall of records does
exist behind Mount Rushmore.
'In a canyon behind the carved faces is a chamber cut only
70 feet into the rock, containing a vault with 16 porcelain enamel panels. The panels include the text of the
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, biographies of the four
presidents and sculptor Gutzon Borglum and the history of the United
States. The chamber was created as the
entrance to a planned Hall of Records; the vault was installed in 1998, though
the Hall of Records was left unfinished during the early construction of the
faces.'
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
The winding drives that are
sure to be breathtaking really begin on the Needles Highway. It’s a 14 mile drive through pine and spruce
forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen and rugged granite mountains. They say the road’s name comes from the
needle-like granite formations which seem to piece the horizon along the
highway.
Along the Needles Highway is
where you can experience the wonder of two of the six tunnels that are in and
near Custer State Park, with varying widths and heights.
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| On the other side of this tunnel was a huge surprise. See below. |
Located about one mile from
the entrance of Needles Highway is one of several resorts that you can stop at. We stopped at Legion Lake Lodge to
take a selfie and enjoy our lunch on a beautiful, sunny day.
The drive to the Park’s
limits was approximately 25 miles one way from where we were camped outside of
Deadwood at Mystic Resort. We had
initially planned on staying 3-4 days, and did decide to leave on the fourth
day as the weather was taking a slight turn for the worse. Can you believe that two days after we left,
areas of the Black Hills had 2-3 inches of snow. We are so glad that we didn’t get
snowed in!
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| A nice day to clean off some of the dirt that we accumulated. |
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| Free Range Cattle on the campground grounds. We definitely didn't know or expect this. What an experience with this blind cow. |
We’re going to keep moving - leaving Custer State Park to keep our journey alive as we continue to travel West.
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| Leaving Custer State Park and the last sighting of the mighty Buffalo |
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| Wyoming, here we come on our way to Colorado |
Next update ~ Colorado
Hugs to all.
