This is what we are here for: the Mount Rushmore National Memorial and our goal is to do our “Live @5” from the monument. But we had not counted on the overly displayed…
Closed for the Season
The pictures will tell you all about that. Because even with all my planning and nice things to do in the area, I kind of felt defeated by noon.
We started with a visit to Chapel on the Hill, a Danish building style, but it was closed for the season.
We managed to squeeze through the gates and were able to walk around it, literally.
Next up, we drove a long way to NOT see, the Crazy Horse statue. It is still being build and it might be “being build” for a while longer, since it already has been constructed for a while. We turned around at the ticket booth.
We drove a little/ while further to not find the Bison in the streets of Cluster. They were gathered in a side park for the winter season. And thanks to Karlien’s keen eye we managed to visit them all in one spot. It happened right after I was defeated and disappointed and… (I can’t even find the amount of words needed to describe the fact I was about to close down for the season myself). But Karlien didn’t give in and found the bison all painted with different scenes and ideas.
Anyway, the bison were a good way to lift the spirits, definitely since our next road was….. YUP, CLOSED FOR THE SEASON. It was this epic, known scenic drive called: Iron Mountain Rd. With a length of only 17 miles there are 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 tunnels and 3 pigtails (turns which loop over their own road, allowing the road to climb rapidly). This would have made the drive long enough to do the live @5 from the memorial, but it might be the (only) reason to return.
Mount Rushmore National Monument
We arrived at the memorial way to early, but yet late enough to hang around and we spend more time then needed to great our followers on Facebook. It was worth seeing, once!
George Washington: He was the first president and represented the foundation of American democracy.
Thomas Jefferson: With the Louisiana Purchase, he greatly expanded the nation. He was also the author of the hugely influential Declaration of Independence.
Theodore Roosevelt: He not only represented the industrial development of the nation but was also widely known for conservation efforts.
Abraham Lincoln: As the president during the U.S. Civil War, he represents the preservation of the nation above all costs
according to National Park Services.
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