Got to Mt. Rushmore at about 11 a.m., under gorgeous blue skies and very light winds; totally marvelous weather! We spent some time in the Visitor Center learning about how and why the monument was made (something that I think every American should see). It was especially poignant to be there on September 11, a chance to remember what a great nation we have the privilege of living in.
We had some lunch at the cafeteria, and then set out to see the artist’s studio, which is a huge building with 30 foot ceilings (or maybe even taller!). On the left side was a scale model of the artist’s final conception for the monument, which is actually a lot more than is currently there. He made this conception at 1/12 scale (meaning that each inch on the scale model would translate to one foot on the monument itself), and he could see the work progress on the mountain right out his window. As you can see from the photo, it included complete upper bodies of both Washington and Lincoln, most of the upper body of Jefferson, and Roosevelt’s head peeking through between them. The ranger giving the talk said that the reason that the sculptures weren’t finished was that the main artist, Borglum was his name, died before it could be completed. His son, who was heavily involved in the work, continued for another several months, and then figured that it was completed enough to dedicate, and that was it. When she was asked if there was any plan to complete it in the future, she said that there was not – it was felt that that would be like someone putting arms on the Venus de Milo or something – kind of sacrilegious.
After spending some time in the studio, Sharla and I walked around the “President’s Trail,” which makes a big loop all the way to the base of the monument. At one point we were looking straight up Jefferson’s nose! I never realized that you could get that close. Anyway, there were lots of markers with information about each of the four presidents, and why they were chosen to be on the monument. Very interesting!
On the way back into Rapid City, we stopped at a manufacturer of Black Hills Gold, where we saw a very interesting presentation on exactly how it is made. Sharla found a beautiful little ring that looks just wonderful on her. (You’ll all get to see it when we get back.)
It was then on to the Badlands, but, as you know if you’ve ever been through southern South Dakota, we had to stop in at Wall Drug first. Wall Drug is an amazing place. First of all, the “drug store” part of it is only a very small portion of the HUGE store. There is also a photo gallery, a souvenir store, a shooting gallery, an audio-animatronics snake oil salesman, a roaring T-Rex, a soda fountain and cafeteria, and all kinds of others stuff. Sharla had her first chance to get her picture taken with a real buffalo! (It must have just recently eaten, because it was stuffed!)
We got to the Badlands just about an hour before sunset. It is a really wild place, with lots of strange-looking rock formations. All of this sandstone was clearly laid down during the flood, and left carved by the water as it retreated into the ocean beds. It is very cool to see things that support so clearly the biblical creation model and the history of the flood! While we were there, we noticed a huge column of smoke, and found out that they were having a controlled burn. I don’t know how big they intended it to be, but it looked to me like it burned several hundred acres, and was still burning as we drove past. In the area we saw a prairie dog “city,” where dozens of fat little prairie dogs were jogging around doing their thing, as well as lots of antelope and deer.
It finally got dark just as we were leaving the Badlands, so we decided to overnight at a little town called Kadoka. (Population in the three hundreds!) But it has a nice motel that we are staying in. Tomorrow we have to find a church to attend (there isn’t one in town), and then we will be off to see Sharla’s two aunts that live in the eastern part of the state.
Good night and God bless.