Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore was a great stop on our lengthy drive home. We arrived at the monument a little before 9am, and walked around the small viewing areas and museum for about 90 minutes before heading out (pardon my Rushmore pun). Jeff and I went to Mount Rushmore back when I was first pregnant with Jay. It looked exactly the same 8.5 years later! This time we brought binoculars and got a very close look up George Washington's nose. We wanted to get closer to the heads but the place is locked down pretty tight to adventurers, so we stuck to the paved patio and used our binoculars.

Keystone, South Dakota is such a funky little faux-wild west tourist trap of a town, but I like it.

The approach--Jay was the first one to spot the heads on the horizon. The kids were giddy and squealed "I SEE IT!" every time we rounded another bend with an open view of the four heads.

There they are, gazing nobly into the middle distance. 

I think the viewpoint is an oddly done place--a series of giant entrance arches block the sculpture from view, so when we first parked and started walking toward the viewing area, the four heads were out of sight for our initial approach.

Overtired road trip kids and bright morning sunlight made for some impossible pictures. 

Jay asked "why are they all frowning?" I told him they were being serious and stately, not cranky. 

Good ole George, Thomas, Theodore, and Abraham. I learned from various informational plaques that park rangers and maintenance crews wash and caulk the faces regularly to preserve them "beyond our civilization." Face wash whitens granite--who knew?

 I'll say it one more time--it blows my mind that this is the closest visitors can get to the big guys.

I set the camera on a bench and turned on the timer for a quick group shot. We love this country!

Eight and a half years ago, I took this picture of Jeff and labeled it "five great men."

I told Jay that when he grows up, he's going to be a great man too. I don't know if he was trying to copy the presidents' serious expressions or if it was just the sun.

Our camera and its depth of field made my "five great men" picture a bit fuzzy...

My cell phone has never heard of depth of field, so this was the clearest I managed.

We dashed back to the car and grabbed our binoculars. 

Our camera at full zoom managed to get this close, but the binoculars were even better. I am fascinated at the thin curves that give the illusion of Teddy's classic glasses. And George Washington in granite gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "chiseled jaw." It's amazing how smooth the lines look from afar when really they are quite jagged and...rocky.

 One last glance on our way out of the parking lot, with that dreamy puffy white and blue sky above.

Around the bend, Mr. Washington had the final say.