"Amarillo By Morning..."

soon on our way...Home or Bust!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Day 6 Mount Rushmore and The Badlands


"....for purple mountains majesty above the fruited plains!"

What a long day we have had. It started off with my getting up at 5:30 AM, thinking it was 6:30! By the time I realized it, too late to go back to bed. Our KOA is very, very nice and huge, the 2nd largest in the US! Met some fellow Texans tonight and he called it the Hilton of KOA's! We ate a pancake breakfast in a breakfast tent. The cook and owner said he makes about 2,500 pancakes a day, 160,000 a season. He and his wife own the concession, and only work 6 months a year--but that is 7 days a week! His batter is a special blend he has made for this altitude! He boasted that he was the largest Batter Man Company in south Dakota! and people say everything in Texas is big! We left camp around 8:00 heading out to Mount Rushmore, only about 6 miles away.
We got to Mount Rushmore while it was still cool and not a crowd yet, which was a good thing! Can't even begin to tell about Rushmore, I just hope I can do it justice. My first glimpse was a bit disappointing. It looked smaller than I had imagined! But, by the time we left, I had fallen in love with it's history and now recognize the majesty of the mountain. We did the "Ranger Walk" with the park ranger and he was terrific (an ex teacher of course)! We walked from the terrace around to the base of the mountain, and then down to the sculptor's studio where the very large original model for Rushmore still is--can't remember how tall, but probably at least 2 stories. The sculptor was Gutzon Borglum. My friend Robert, a historian himself, tells me that Borglum's granddaughter lives in Corpus Christi, my old home town! Small World! This man was not only a fabulous sculptor and artist, but a genius. The invent of Mount Rushmore came about because of difficult economic times, around 1923. It was the brain child of Doane Robinson, the state's historian, who wanted to help the economy of the area, both by providing jobs and bringing in tourism. He wanted to depict western heros like Bill Cody, an Indian Chief, but Borglum had different ideas. He wanted to create a tourist attraction that memorialized the ideals of democracy. The sculpture went through 9 different changes before the final one was chosen, and even it changed because originally Jefferson was on Washington's right, but Borglum wasn't happy with it and blasted him off! A 12:1 scale was used to reproduce the sculpture from the model. 1 inch on the model equaled 12 inches on the mountain. For a size example, George Washington's eye is 11 feet wide. The method that Borglum used to create the eyes was amazing. He carved around the pupil, leaving a shaft of granite in the middle. His use of light and shadow was phenomenal. 90% of the work was done with dynamite! And we were amazed to hear that no one was killed during the sculpting, nor even badly hurt--and they wore no steel toe shoes or hard hats. The men were suspended from the side of the mountain by a cable no larger than their pinkie finger in a swing-like seat. They used jack hammers powered by huge compressors and might go through 400 bits a day. They drilled the holes for dynamite, or holes to make a gird of holes to chip away at the granite. Before they even got to the granite used for Washington's face, they had to blast away 30 feet deep of stone and even more for Roosevelt! To get to work the men had to climb over 700 steps, and were fired if late! Borglum was a task master. The work continued from 1927-1941, but was not finished...the original model showed the men to their waists. Now, how they did it all is amazing, but the thing that struck me most was why Borglum chose these presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Our guide spoke about each one and connected each with a word. Washington stood for the "Foundation", building our country, "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen". Jefferson stood for "Growth"--doubled the size of the US by the Louisiana purchase, not to mention he was a genius in his own right, scientist, inventor, eloquent writer (remember he wrote the Declaration of Independence and more!) Lincoln was chosen, not only for his background and how he was a self-educated man, and eloquent himself, but his word symbol was "Preservation" as he tried to preserve the Union.."a country divided cannot stand". And lastly, Theodore Roosevelt stood for "Development" --the Panama Canal, opening trade, breaking monopolys, and was such a conservationist, setting aside 240 million + acres of land for National parks, monuments, etc. We stayed at Rushmore for about 3 1/2 hours and then went back this evening for the lighting ceremony that Mary Alice said I Must Not Miss! and it was wonderful, very moving. If you have not visited Mount Rushmore, put it on your Bucket List. It is a fabulous sight and piece of Americana we should all revere. There is enough to do up here in the Black Hills, we could stay a week!
After we left Rushmore, we headed for the Badlands..but not before I met my new bff Ted from "Philly". Ted owns a sandwich shop we stopped to eat at in Rapid City. We started talking football, and of course he is an Eagle fan...well, Eagles and Cowboys don't mix! Ted and I had a great visit. We have met some of the nicest people on this trip! Everyone is so friendly.
On the way to the Badlands, we stopped at a small town called Wall--with the famous HUGE Wall Drug. It was funny--on the road miles and miles before Wall are advertisements---like 5cent coffee-Wall Drug. Free donuts to Veterans-Wall Drug. Homemade ice cream-Wall Drug....on, and on, and on...got to be a big joke and now I am sick of hearing "Wall Drug". The place was started in 1931, and almost went under until the owner's wife thought to start serving free ice water to travelers. That saved the business and now it is enormous, actually many, shops all running together run by 2 grandsons of the original owners. Fun tourist trap!
and now, The Badlands...and they are Bad Lands..perfectly named. Not much to say about them, but they are there, and we drove through them, and don't care to ever go back. But I could easily see how the Outlaws could find protection there from the Law! Phil wanted to explore down a gravel road through the park, but Thank goodness we did not have time! Rattlesnake warnings everywhere! Perfect area for snakes if you ask me!
So, as you can see, a full day...now to post pictures so I can go to bed. More scenic byways tomorrow and one more night in South Dakota...still "no elephant"!
so from the McCamper, where the women are pooped! the men are already in bed, and the children are very tired from reading all this with few pictures! goodnight! --please excuse any and all errors tonight. Just don't have the energy to proof!

3 comments:

  1. What a wonderful description of a fabulous day! I'm ready to pack my bags!

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  2. Simply amazing! So glad you posted that awesome picture of you and Phil--looks like you're having a GREAT TIME!! Great photos...Mt. Rushmore looks so cool! Enjoy that cool weather--we've barely had a hint of cool the last couple of mornings here in Cypress.

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  3. What wonderful photos and we are glad you had a nice time in South Dakota!

    Come visit again soon,

    Emily
    South Dakota Office of Tourism
    www.TravelSD.com

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