Views of Mount Rushmore

Since we stayed in the Mt. Rushmore area for almost a week, we got several glimpses of it going back and forth to different things, as well as making two visits to the memorial itself. The first was for the lighting ceremony in the evening and the next was as part of our 9-hour tour of the area.


Anytime we mentioned that we were going to Mt. Rushmore, we were told that we had to make sure we went at night to see the lighting ceremony. The campground we were staying at (Palmer Gulch Lodge and Mt. Rushmore KOA, guess why I picked it??) offered a shuttle service to the memorial for the lighting ceremony each night so we took the opportunity. They do a wonderfully moving program and then the lights gradually come up and light the faces. It was great.

The next day, Mt. Rushmore was the first of our tour stops on our 9-hour tour. This starts with an all you can eat "cowboy" breakfast, includes stops at Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, drives through Custer State Park and on the Iron Mountain Rd., and finishes up with a chuckwagon supper and musical show. We thought it was fabulous. And it gave us time to see Mt. Rushmore during the day. Rob and Matt pose here while we wait for our tour photo to be taken.


Matt's impression of Mount Rushmore? "It looks just like the pictures!"

My friend Lisa and I collect piggy banks from our travels. Wherever one of us goes, we find tacky ceramic piggy banks and send them to the other. There has been a decided dearth of pigs on this trip. I can't seem to find them almost anywhere. Here, Rob offers a suggestion for a possible replacement for the pigs. I'm sure the finger placement was strictly a matter of chance. Really.

For his birthday, Matt wanted to have his face added to Mt. Rushmore. He had to settle for this.