**Quick note: sorry for the tardiness in blog updates! I have been popping in and out of internet coverage, and also have been pulling some long days. Here's one for now, and hopefully I'll have internet... sometime...**
7/14/17
…Sometimes you’ve just gotta RushMore. Man, I crack
myself up.
Yeah, today I visited Mount Rushmore. I’m sure that joke
has been made a million times, but hey, what’s one more person piling on?
I’ve never seen Mount Rushmore before and kind of figured
it was an obligatory stop while up “in this neck of the woods”. But I knew it
wouldn’t really be my jam as I figured it would be very similar to the monuments
in D.C. Lots of tour buses, not a lot of trails, and a lot of people and
commercialization. I hoped for the best though.
Unfortunately, the way this park is set up seems designed
to leave a bad taste in your mouth straight from the entry gate. They charge
$10 for parking and $0 for entry. This seems great – free entry! – but really
what this does is render your nationwide park pass completely invalid. So to
visit one of America’s most well-known monuments, first you have to pay the
capitalists who figured that clever little loophole out. At least it wasn’t too
expensive.
I parked Jane and headed up the stairs to the impressive
entry to the Rushmore viewing pavilion. There were a lot of people.
Each flag on the pillar listed the state and its date of
entry into the United States, which was pretty cool. I resisted finding and
photographing the Texas, Colorado, and North Carolina flags.
Mt. Rushmore itself was hugely awe-inspiring. I mean
really, this is a MASSIVE carving and you can see in the unfinished edges
exactly how much rock they had to move to get to that point. I can’t even begin
to imagine hanging off that rock face on a little seat, chiseling away at a
feature so miniscule in the grand scheme of things that you don’t even know
what you’re working on. And to have it come out like that – incredible!
I took a quick turn around the half-mile loop that brings
you close to the base of the carving so I could check out the features better.
I wonder what the surface really looks like up close – if they’ve smoothed it
or if it’s kind of rough or uneven. I couldn’t tell with my zoom lens.
After half a mile of listening to other people
complaining about HOW LONG and HOW HARD this trail was (oh man), I arrived back
at the entryway right next to the ice cream shop. You better bet I got some ice
cream – the first of the trip, in fact!
Then I split, because the crowds and the shouting and the
complaining were really getting to me. Conclusion: Mount Rushmore is very cool
but not for me.
Jane and I then got back out on the open road to head for
Badlands National Park, something that would be much more up my alley! Now, the
town of Wall is positioned right at the entrance to Badlands. And in the town
of Wall is a Route 66-esque attraction: Wall Drug. This drugstore made itself
famous way back in the day by offering free ice water to people stopping in.
Somehow, that was enough to build it into a massive multi-faceted mall-like
business that stretches nearly the entire length of downtown Wall. They still
retain their “free ice water” billboards on the highway today.
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| Oh good, I might have perished if I had to pay for ice water! |
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| You have my attention... |
I skipped the drugstore for the moment and instead headed
straight into Badlands, reveling in the sprawling vistas visible over Jane’s
hood once more. The Badlands are staggeringly beautiful and starkly desolate,
their jagged peaks stretching up to claw at the sky even as they are worn down
by wind and rain and time. The late afternoon sun threw the sharp ridges of
rock into brilliant highlights and abrupt shadows, enhancing the multicolored
hues of the strata. Just… perfect.
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| Creatively named "Yellow Mounds" |
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| Adorable! |
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| This kid was so close to Jane that I'm not sure he even succeeded in taking a picture of the entire car. |
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| Nothing beats a classic pony car with amazing scenery in the background! |
Jane and I saw some of the overlooks and then went back
for the night to set up camp. Then I went over to investigate Wall Drug, which
turned out to be a fantastic compilation of good food, touristy attractions,
and an incredible amount of historical photos and stories about the area.
Totally awesome. And yes, I did have some free ice water.
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| Ok, this store is massive and takes up almost the entirety of downtown... pretty sure this sign is unnecessary. |
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| Stores within the store |
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| A random hallway of historical photographs and newspapers. |
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