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Published: August 11th 2009
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Jason and Carrie finally realized their dream of visiting Mt. Rushmore on this day. Sam didn’t think much of it other than there were no cute boys in the area. We learned at the visitor’s center that the most scenic way to get there was on Iron Mountain Road. The road had many curving areas that went up and down hills, switchbacks, pigtails, low clearance bridges and tunnels, and one lane tunnels. For the tunnels, you had to stop, honk your horn to warn people you’re coming through, and then get through as quick as possible so that you wouldn’t meet anyone in the middle. It was quite a ride to get there. Thankfully, we rented a car to drive to Mt. Rushmore from our campsite. Yeah, the RV would be at least ten inches shorter than it is now without that rental car. We spent a couple of hours here and it still just seems like a dream! Jason had dreamed of seeing it since he first saw the movie North by Northwest. Carrie’s 6th grade report was on South Dakota just so she could write about Mt. Rushmore. Twelve years later, here she is visiting this American icon of
Mt. Rushmore
Cute donkies on the way to Mt. Rushmore. four amazing men in our history. Oh, did I say only twelve years later, I meant sixteen! (Jason wonders how Carrie made it through school with such poor math skills…)
We also visited the Crazy Horse Monument. This was truly amazing! It is so large, that when it is finished, you could fit at least ten Mt. Rushmores into it! It’s amazing how one guy with a mission in life can accomplish so much on his own. We also had the opportunity to get a rock from the making of this monument. Yes, we now have two, very heavy rocks as souvenirs-but hey, they were free! Well, they were actually free with a small donation to the continuing effort to finish the Crazy Horse Monument.
Next, we headed to Reptile Gardens. This place is famous for having the largest reptile collection in North America. It was interesting. First, we learned how to wrestle a gator. You know, all the “what to dos” and “what not to dos” should you ever encounter a gator in the wild. Let’s all hope that doesn’t happen anytime soon. Jason decided his first step in wrestling a gator is run away very fast!
Mt. Rushmore
Cute donkies on the way to Mt. Rushmore. We also sat in on a show that was for the birds. Literally, it was for the birds! They had a bird that could sing various tunes, a bird that could crack an almond open in no time and a bird that could collect money for donations. Then we headed over to the snake show. This guy showed us various snakes and gave us tips on what we should do if encountered in the wild. Apparently, wetting your pants is something that should be done if encountering venomous snakes!
After all this, we headed to a chuck wagon dinner show. We were given a tin plate and had to go through the grub line to obtain our potato, chicken or beef, applesauce, baked beans, biscuit, and spice cake. It was all very good! Then they sang some cowboy/western songs along with a variety of hits from all the decades. There was an amazing fiddler, she was only 14 years old and could out-fiddle the best of them! Good entertainment! Jason knew a lot of the songs they were singing and he embarrassed Sam by singing along. She should just be happy he wasn’t trying to dance!
No miles
Mt. Rushmore
On the side of Iron Mountain Road. or hours were put behind the wheel of the RV. We did, however, put 109 miles on the rental car today.
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