We started today’s journey by going into a little Rapid City neighbor called Box Elder for dirt cheap fuel -$2.119/gallon – and filled up Charlotte’s voluminous tank. From the fuel stop we took off for Mount Rushmore, retracing a good bit of the road we took to Keystone yesterday. Keystone had not improved since our visit 24 hours ago so we continued into the Mount Rushmore National Memorial some 2 miles away.
Peggy and I had stopped in at Rushmore in 1979. There have been several changes since then. One change is that our National Park access pass does not work here anymore because the place is run by a concessionaire. The funky cafeteria you see in the Alfred Hitchcock classic North by Northwest is no longer there having been replaced by enormous, scene-blocking masonry things which are liberally sprinkled with gift shops and snack bars and restaurants. They do have a very nice museum which they didn’t have back in the Pleistocene Era when we previously visited the park.
However, after paying $11 to park and taking a hike from the parking structure through the masonry things and gift shops, there is the same, gorgeous scene of the four presidents’ likenesses carved into the mountain. Gudson Borglum, the main guy responsible for the art was a master at light and shadow and the work certainly benefitted from his efforts. He kicked the bucket just before the work was completed, leaving the remainder to his son, Lincoln. Lincoln did a superb job.
We lounged around in the shady parts of the viewing plaza (it is nearly 100 degrees today) before taking a trail about a half a mile to get a close-up view of the work. Large sections of the trail are fortunately shaded by conifers and Peg and I scampered from shady spot to shady spot trying to avoid the broiling sun on this warm day. Eventually we came to a raised viewing platform right at the bottom of the pile of rock blasted from the mountain and the view was spectacular. The almost-white carved sections contrast beautifully with the adjacent rounded rock natural formations which are equally striking.
We shlepped through some of the gift shops looking for a certain type of post card Peg has started collecting from other national parks but Rushmore gift shops did not have the right type so Peg ended up with some T-shirts. From the Memorial we went back home for naps because tomorrow is moving day.