It was another late night, getting back to the hotel about 1 am, again, with another early wake up call in our future. We didn’t have enough time to visit Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Pikes Peak, Crazy Horse, Deadwood, and numerous other natural and manmade marvels of the region. However, we were determined to see Mount Rushmore before heading back to Connecticut. We woke up very early Wednesday morning and drove down to Mount Rushmore. Most of South Dakota was quite flat, except for the area around Rapid City. Nestled in the Black Hills, Rapid City had many granite peaks and hills surrounded by dense forests. The area was rugged and beautiful. They say there’s gold in them there hills, and before we could see Mount Rushmore, I had to get some Black Hills Gold. No, I didn’t mine it or pan it, we simply stopped at a jewelry store along the way that advertised Black Hills Gold, and I bought a few souvenirs (Hey, Ralph bought a car and a couple pair of cowboy boots on this trip, so we’re hardly even!).

     The road that went to Mount Rushmore climbed up and wound in and out of the trees and hills. As we worked our way up the road, the Monument began to reveal itself in glimpses between the trees. The closer we got, the more we could see. It was impressive.

    We arrived at the park and made our way in to view the Presidents up close. It was breathtaking, awesome and powerful, it gave me goose bumps. Ralph and I just stood and stared up and took it all in.