And turning around 180 degrees, this is what we saw directly across the hotel parking lot...
(More Wyoming)
From Utah to Wyoming we had been traveling East on the 80 highway. There were so many bugs, we had to stop about every hour to clean the windshield! Cheyenne, WY is located where the 80 and the 25 meet. So, to get to Mt. Rushmore in Keysone, South Dakota, we took the 25 North. And here are some pictures along the road....
(The landscape is starting to include trees!)
(I don't remember which river this was. By the way, we crossed the Continental Divide earlier in Wyoming. There was a sign, but I didn't get a picture.)
(Rocks are exciting in Wyoming)
(We got gas in this little town.)
And finally, we made a right at Highway 18, and took it into South Dakota....
(Our state line picture...no smog + open landscape = really bright and sunny days!)
(This sign is right on the state line too)
(Cows across the highway)
(South Dakota landscape)
(A giant farmer...see him?)
After driving a bit, we entered the Black Hills National Forest....very close to Mt. Rushmore!
So, in 1948, in an effort to pay homage to the Native American leaders of the country, a memorial was started in honor of Crazy Horse, Chief of the Oglala Indians. This memorial was supposed to be carved into natural rocks, similar to that of Mt. Rushmore. Driving into Custer, South Dakota, you can see the memorial from far away.....
(That's it in the very middle of the picture)
Driving more, and getting closer....
(The black sign is what the monument will look like. It was started in the 40's and still isn't done!!)
There's a road you can take to pay a fee and see the monument closer. But we figured if you could see it from the highway, that was good enough. Plus it's not finished, so it wasn't worth it to us. For more information on this monument, and pictures of what it's supposed to look like, click the link below...
Once we drove through Custer, we headed for Keystone. Before driving up the hill where Mt. Rushmore is, we pulled over to take some pictures...
And got back in the car...so anxious! (We were both really excited for Mt. Rushmore.)
(The road leading up the hill)
(A lake)
When approaching Mt. Rushmore, you come up behind the memorial. So this is the BACK of Mt. Rushmore.
(Pardon the crack in the windshield)
Then we paid $10 for parking. The lady in the booth took down the make and model of our vehicle. Why? Because the $10 we paid for parking is good the WHOLE YEAR! So we parked, and started walking....
You can actually see the memorial while approaching the parking lot and while walking up to the front, but I'm trying to build suspense....
So this is the entrance to the memorial. It says MT. RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL, but it didn't come out in the picture...
This is what you see directly across from the memorial entrance...
(Pretty. Fresh Air.)
Turn back around, and walk through the archway....
Inside the archway, there are two things to notice. To the left, a statue of Gutzon Borglum....
(He designed Mt. Rushmore)
And to the right, a wall with the names of all those who worked on the memorial....
(Some of these workers were as young as 18 years old, and earned as little as 25 cents a day)And continuing on, TAH - DAH!....
(The walkway leading to the observation terrace is lined with state flags)
Here are some of the picutres we took from the observation terrace. The terrace is like a big balcony, with bleachers toward the back, standing room in the front, and an amphitheatre below...
We actually have A LOT of pictures of the memorial. However, it's a sculpture, so they get repetative. There are 2 bookstores, a cafe, and a museum at Mt. Rushmore....
(The gift shop)
Pictures from the museum.....
(An actual plaster model Borglum used to transfer measurements onto the mountain)
(We learned that the original monument was not going to include Roosevelt. A little later we learned Roosevelt is a distant cousin of Borglum.....interesting......)We finished up at the memorial around 6pm. They have a lighting ceremony every night where they show a video, then light the monument and take down the flag while the Star Spangled Banner is playing. However it wasn't happening that night until 8pm, so we decided to get going.
When leaving Mt. Rushmore, we drove through Keystone....
It's a cute little town. I thought we were going to spend the night here, but Vincent insisted on driving. We drove all the way across South Dakota and stopped for the night in Sioux Falls.
DAY THREE:
Cheyenne, WY to Keystone, SD: 300 miles
Keystone, SD to Sioux Falls, SD: 350 miles
Total miles traveled: 1,760 miles
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