We were a little concerned by the clouds in the sky, but I was determined to go rain or shine because I didn't come to South Dakota for nothing! 
And we had just enough of that good old Irish luck to last us the few hours we were at the monument, yay!
George Washington 
Thomas Jefferson 
Abraham Lincoln
Theodore Roosevelt
Tomorrow's another day of driving, surprise, surprise! We're staying in Mitchell, South Dakota tonight, which just so happens to be home to the famous Corn Palace, a building made solely out of corn! Should be an interesting sight to see! Other than that, it will be a pretty mellow day. I hope to catch up on more postcards, so let me know if you want one and from where, I'll do my best to accommodate.
And we had just enough of that good old Irish luck to last us the few hours we were at the monument, yay!I couldn't believe how close we were able to get to the monument. For security reasons, I always thought that the many photographs of Mount Rusmore that I had seen must have been taken zoom lenses and that visitors could only see from far off view points, like is the case with the Hollywood sign. I was very pleased to find out that was not really the case with Mount Rushmore, which meant my zoom lens was able to capture extremely close up shots of each of the four presidents sculpted on this mountain masterpiece. Granted, we were probably still a lot further away than I like to think, especially given the size of these sculptures. These four heads are definitely larger than the little Hollywood sign on the hill in Los Angeles. In fact, we saw old photographs of the sculptors working on the mountain and they were approximately the size/height of one of the presidents' eyeballs, so those are some pretty large faces in that granite!
George Washington Thomas Jefferson Abraham LincolnTheodore RooseveltI know this photo of Washington's face isn't much different from the others, but taken from this angle so far underneath the rock we thought he had a sphinx-like appearance and I thought it would be cool to add to the blog! 
I just think these guys are so awesome! I mean, I kept staring up at them and wondering how those sculptors hanging from ropes on that mountain would know where to chisel out a nose or an eye and how they could tell the detail they were adding from so close up on a sculpture so large, especially without any technological assistance like we would have today. 
Mount Rushmore is an incredible engineering feat, to me much more impressive than the amazing Hoover Dam, no offense to President Hoover! Too bad he can't be part of Mount Rushmore somehow, too. I tried to be part of it, but I think it looks better with the four guys up there already. Adding more would make it a bit too crowded and potentially risk damaging the original masterpiece, so I guess I'll just have to settle for this photograph instead. 
Rapid City, the closest major metropolis to Mount Rushmore, takes it's place in the country's political history very seriously and has placed bronze statues of the nation's most important president's on the street corners of downtown. I just had to have my picture taken with our 13th President Zachary Taylor. Why, you ask? You probably didn't even know we had a president named Zachary Taylor, did you? Well, to be honest, neither would I except for the fact that we are connected. No, not related, but we do share a birthday exactly 200 years apart, November 24, 1784 and 1984. I remember reading that fact once on one of those "On this day in history" birthday cards and it stuck with me because I thought it was kind of cool. So here we are!
That pretty much covers the excitement for the day as our Irish luck ran out after our visit with good ole Zach. We passed through quite a big thunderstorm, the likes of which I'd never really driven in, so I made my dad take over for a while. This allowed me to take cool pictures of the scenery, well the unique rain patterns on the window anyway, 
and catch up on a few postcards. If anyone would like a postcard, get in touch with me and give me your address and I'll make sure to send one out to you.
I just think these guys are so awesome! I mean, I kept staring up at them and wondering how those sculptors hanging from ropes on that mountain would know where to chisel out a nose or an eye and how they could tell the detail they were adding from so close up on a sculpture so large, especially without any technological assistance like we would have today. Mount Rushmore is an incredible engineering feat, to me much more impressive than the amazing Hoover Dam, no offense to President Hoover! Too bad he can't be part of Mount Rushmore somehow, too. I tried to be part of it, but I think it looks better with the four guys up there already. Adding more would make it a bit too crowded and potentially risk damaging the original masterpiece, so I guess I'll just have to settle for this photograph instead. Rapid City, the closest major metropolis to Mount Rushmore, takes it's place in the country's political history very seriously and has placed bronze statues of the nation's most important president's on the street corners of downtown. I just had to have my picture taken with our 13th President Zachary Taylor. Why, you ask? You probably didn't even know we had a president named Zachary Taylor, did you? Well, to be honest, neither would I except for the fact that we are connected. No, not related, but we do share a birthday exactly 200 years apart, November 24, 1784 and 1984. I remember reading that fact once on one of those "On this day in history" birthday cards and it stuck with me because I thought it was kind of cool. So here we are! That pretty much covers the excitement for the day as our Irish luck ran out after our visit with good ole Zach. We passed through quite a big thunderstorm, the likes of which I'd never really driven in, so I made my dad take over for a while. This allowed me to take cool pictures of the scenery, well the unique rain patterns on the window anyway, and catch up on a few postcards. If anyone would like a postcard, get in touch with me and give me your address and I'll make sure to send one out to you.Fortunately, we weren't far from the famous Wall Drug store in Wall, South Dakota. This landmark rest stop used to have tons of billboards between Wall and Mount Rushmore advertising free ice water in order to get people to pull off the highway and visit the small store. During the Depression, the poor town of Wall was in dire need of a boost in their economy and this great ad campaign for free water, a painfully simple concept, eventually did the trick!
The Wall Drug opened in 1931 and has since grown to 65,000 square feet of cheesy souveneirs, soda fountains, and ice cream shops. It is basically the epitome of tourist traps in America, but it was in a great location to grab some ice cream and wait out the rain. Plus, it was amusing to wander from room to room and purchase a few souveneirs ourselves. What can I say, we couldn't resist the mystical power of the tourist trap! And the people there were just so friendly!
The Wall Drug opened in 1931 and has since grown to 65,000 square feet of cheesy souveneirs, soda fountains, and ice cream shops. It is basically the epitome of tourist traps in America, but it was in a great location to grab some ice cream and wait out the rain. Plus, it was amusing to wander from room to room and purchase a few souveneirs ourselves. What can I say, we couldn't resist the mystical power of the tourist trap! And the people there were just so friendly!Tomorrow's another day of driving, surprise, surprise! We're staying in Mitchell, South Dakota tonight, which just so happens to be home to the famous Corn Palace, a building made solely out of corn! Should be an interesting sight to see! Other than that, it will be a pretty mellow day. I hope to catch up on more postcards, so let me know if you want one and from where, I'll do my best to accommodate.
And I'll also be working on my license plate game with my dad. My friend Sarah got me a magnetic travel license plate game for my trip, and I've been recording which states I see each day as well as keeping track of which states I've seen on the overall trip. I usually see between 20-30 different state license plates, which is pretty surprising, but I've also been traveling during the summer, a heavy road trip period, and I've been visiting major tourist sights that people come from all over the country to see, as the game has evidenced. Over the past 10 days, I have seen every state license plate except two: Hawaii and Washington, DC. I'm looking really hard and hoping that I can find them before the trip is over. Otherwise, I might just have to keep driving until I see them! We have also seen several Canadian province license plates, including Quebec, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba. It's a great game to play when driving these long, straight, tedious roads, keeps you awake and alert! And it's fun, too!
1 comment:
Well a little birdy told me there was a blog with the Shannon's road trip on it. Very impressive. I think what was most entertaining to date was the "over-the-head" toilet. Obviously Jessa, you and I don't know each other but I work with your Dad and just had to come to the site to check it out. Looks like a lot of fun and hope you both continue to have a good time.
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