Wednesday July 13
It is Isabella’s 9th birthday today- Wed July 13. We have a leisurely breakfast and head to Rapid City for Cars 2 movie. The closet place to see a move is 25 miles away. This is the one thing Isabella has requested for her day. She would have loved to go swimming in a lake but it is cloudy. The campground concierge thought people might go swimming in Horse Thief Lake (which is only about 5 miles from the campground) but didn't look like our lakes back home. When we drive by though the area looks more like a fishing area and I can’t see any sandy beach. Just after Horse Thief Lake is Mt Rushmore. We are amazed that we can see the carvings from the road.
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| The Birthday Girl! 9 years old. |
After the movie we have dinner at Isabella’s choice- Olive Garden. She even asked if we could tell the waitress it was her birthday so everyone would sing to her. I am shocked at this since she usually is too shy to do this. We enjoy a nice meal and then head to a grocery store for a few things. On the way back to the campground, Scott and I decided we should take in the Mt Rushmore evening ceremony. Isabella wanted to go swimming in the pool but we headed to Mt. Rushmore instead.
Mount Rushmore is a national memorial but they do not charge any admission (this was the wish of the sculptor) but do charge an $11 per car parking fee. We parked in the bottom level of the garage all by ourselves (which later proved to be beneficial at a quick exit after the ceremony). You can see the carvings immediately (and from the road) but the parade of flags is on the walkway to the carvings and Isabella immediately spotted New Hampshire’s flag. It is 8:30 and just starting to get dark. Scott looked back from the statues at the flags and noticed the full moon centered between state flags on either side of it. It was a cool thing to see but minutes later the moon had moved just enough that it wasn’t the same. We spent a lot of time reading about the carvings. Originally Jefferson was supposed to be carved to the left of George Washington and the workers has actually gotten a lot of the carving done, before Borglum decided the rock was not quality enough and made them move it (it now sits just to the right). They had to dynamite out the part that had been started.
Mount Rushmore is a national memorial but they do not charge any admission (this was the wish of the sculptor) but do charge an $11 per car parking fee. We parked in the bottom level of the garage all by ourselves (which later proved to be beneficial at a quick exit after the ceremony). You can see the carvings immediately (and from the road) but the parade of flags is on the walkway to the carvings and Isabella immediately spotted New Hampshire’s flag. It is 8:30 and just starting to get dark. Scott looked back from the statues at the flags and noticed the full moon centered between state flags on either side of it. It was a cool thing to see but minutes later the moon had moved just enough that it wasn’t the same. We spent a lot of time reading about the carvings. Originally Jefferson was supposed to be carved to the left of George Washington and the workers has actually gotten a lot of the carving done, before Borglum decided the rock was not quality enough and made them move it (it now sits just to the right). They had to dynamite out the part that had been started.
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| Night ceremony at Mt Rushmore! |
The ceremony began at 9pm with a talk by a park ranger. Then we saw a movie that explained the monument. Most people can understand why Presidents Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln were included in the carving. Washington was the 1st president and he set the course for our country to follow while fighting for freedom from Britain. Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and also sent Lewis and Clarke off to explore the western US. Lincoln was a strong advocate for freedom and wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slavery. He also had to deal with the civil war and trying to keep our country united. Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President and was included in the carving for his involvement in creating the National Parks. Roosevelt felt strongly that land should be set aside for use by all the people. The first National Park was Yellowstone and there is a Roosevelt Lodge in the northeast corner of the park in honor of Teddy.
The ceremony was very patriotic and the park ranger ended the ceremony by asking us each to think about what our freedom means to us and how we can preserve it for the future. The carvings were lit at 9:30 at the end of the ceremony and we sang the national anthem together. I was happy we experienced the ceremony together. All of this trip, I have been amazed at what this country looks like and now it felt right to honor the memory of those who made it possible for us to live and enjoy it.
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