Well, my Mom got to see “the Heads”!! I don’t really know what all the fuss is about but ever since we hit the road in our bus late last November our Mom has been wanting to go to Mt. Rushmore. Thankfully they left us at the bus (as usual) and visited both Mt. Rushmore and that partially done Crazy Horse Memorial that are both close to our campground here in Custer, South Dakota.


The unfinished Crazy Horse Memorial as seen from the main highway.


We found this very interesting: Mt. Rushmore’s presidents were selected to commemorate the founding, growth, preservation and development of the US. George Washington was selected because of the struggle for independence that he was so involved in, Thomas Jefferson for his role in the territorial expansion of the country, Abe Lincoln for the permanent union of the states and equality for all and Teddy Roosevelt for his 20th century role in world affairs. They all symbolize the principles of liberty and freedom on which our country was founded.

(Mount Rushmore is somehow both more and less impressive in person. The "heads" are only about six stories tall so they are somewhat underwhelming in person, yet the 14 years required to complete the project combined with the physical difficulty of sculpting the cliffs is evident when you visit the site and can't be conveyed by photos.)

Also nearby our campground (okay, about an hour’s drive) is the Badlands National Park. The humans thought this landscape was extremely unusual and very interesting, rising up out of the relatively green prairie that surrounds it. They think it’s pretty obvious why the Lakota Indians named it mako sica (bad lands). As for me, all of this geography is making me tired, so I think I'll take a short nap.


Badlands National Park