Rain had started up the previous night and wasn’t interested in letting up much that day. Our first stop was the Dakota Badlands. For some reason, I expected a much harsher, unforgiving environment. Truth be told, it reminded me a lot of our red rock country, especially as you head from Bluff down toward Chinle. It was a rainy day which prevented us from seeing the full splendor of the Badlands color but did not stop us from working through another Junior Ranger program including a brief hike in the drizzle. The visitor center featured more information about fossils from the Miocene period which was a great followup to some of the things Kira and Grange learned farther south at the Agate Fossil Beds.

We needed to push along especially since I had promised Dad that we would make a stop at Wall Drug. Famous for its hospitality during the Depression when every poor traveler was offered a “Free Glass of Ice Water”, it now bills itself as the world’s largest drugstore. Meandering through the various rooms,it seemed a plausible claim. Every kind of doodad and knickknack could be found there. The kids and I settled on an ice cream stop, our favorite late afternoon treat.

We hopped back into the car since I promised Patt we would meet them at a particular time in Custer State Park. We had so much fun with Patt and Bob in Rocky Mountain National Park that they agreed to join us again in South Dakota. The drive into the park was marked by numerous flocks of wild turkey, pronghorn antelope and crowned by one large, handsome bison as we pulled into the center.

The weather proved iffy and to my children’s alarm, I was leaning toward being hard core and camping that night. Bob fortunately for us all and to a shared sigh of relief from Kira and Grange, provided a voice of reason as the rainstorm strengthened. We searched for a cabin which would lodge us all comfortably. The kids, of course, were thrilled and Bob probably saved me from making one of those mistakes that would have sworn the kids off of camping for life.

Next morning after a solid breakfast with clearer skies beckoning, we decided it was time to find a nice campsite for the next few nights. We ended up at Center Lake, a less traveled area where we found a lovely site next to a stream leading to the lake. The kids were in heaven with such a nice water feature right out our tent flap. We hastened to set up camp since Mt. Rushmore was our destination for the day.

Custer State Park is an amazing area with abundant wildlife, wandering bison and no bears. Camping was a lot easier when you weren’t constantly shuttling items back and forth to a bear locker. Heading toward Mount Rushmore, we spotted a family of mountain goats alongside the road; mama, papa and two kids.

Our first view of Mt. Rushmore came through a mountain tunnel. It cannot help but awe. Getting closer, I was overwhelmed by the immensity of a sculpture project on that scale. We learned all we could about the sculptures at the visitor center. One man who had actually worked on the project was there. He wasn’t the most talkative or positive of people although I thought it was interesting that the kids could visit with someone who had worked on the monumental project. The kids’ favorite display in the center was a simulation where you could press down the detonator to blow the dynamite, not surprisingly a trip favorite for Grange.

Ninety percent of the monument was completed in this fashion, blowing off chunks of granite in singular powerful strokes to shape the tremendous features of the four presidents. Gutzon Borglum possessed the ego and talent to guide over 400 workers in a monstrous project which would take over fourteen years to complete. His favorite figure (mine, too) is President Lincoln. He felt he was the soul of the entire sculpture. After all of the reading I have completed on Lincoln, I know he was singular in his abilities to lead, maintaining warm relations with many in the viciousness which is politics and possessing vision of which our nation was robbed by his assassination.

Borglum had great faith in his workers, urging them to “follow their gut” to guide them in their carving. Many immerged as true artisans in their own right, completing this monument during a time when Americans thought big and built bigger. Everything about the accomplishment is spectacular and we witnessed first hand people from all over the world paying homage to not only the American icons represented but the sheer audacity of this sculptural endeavor.