Today was the obligatory visit to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, also known as, the "mountain with the faces" by Hilina. She was so excited about this and was really interested in how it was made. Inside the visitor center, there was a little video display where you could push a plunger and watch the dynamite blow out the rocks in different parts of the mountain from original film. Hilina must have pushed that plunger 50 times.
Then there was a hilarious moment was when we were walking the Presidential Trail at the base of the mountain. When we stopped at a spot with a bunch of women around, Hilina suddenly says "All of those faces are men, where are the girls?"
Suddenly, all these women started laughing and saying "Yeah, they need to put some women up there" and "Wow, this girl knows her stuff already". Hilina then replied "Maybe they can change one of them" and pointed at George Washington as her choice.
It was certainly an interesting story of the efforts to create this work of art and I think Borghlum made the right choices. It is hard to think of anyone who deserves to be up there more than the four presidents he chose. It is also interesting that Theodore Roosevelt was chosen just 20 years after he left office. Yet, even then his impact on America was well known.
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| A view of the badlands and prairies of the Great Plains |
Linda said none of them would be acceptable, certainly not by today's hyper-partisan setting. I tend to agree, although I personally would pick FDR, because whether you liked his policies or not, you certainly can not argue that any other president has had more influence on the direction and future of the country than the policies he pursued and wars he fought. The policies he implemented still are in effect today!
We briefly stopped by Crazy Horse Memorial as well. But, we were in a bit of a rush because it was Hilina's naptime and I had some school work to do. As such, we did not go in. But, Linda said it looks exactly the same as she remembers when she visited at 12 years old. Progress is apparently slow. Oh, but they do have a new visitor center. Since they started it in 1948, at this rate, it might get finished in 2448. Sorry for the sarcasm.
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1 comment:
I've been to both of those places! I thought it was really awesome! My dad was getting winded on the trail though (I found it somewhat funny how we had to stop every 10 minutes, which happened to be almost perfectly timed with the viewing spots!)I agree completely on the "Crazy Horse" comment, they need to get a move on, otherwise it'll never be finished. My dad and I also went to some of the local rock hounding spots, which was awesome because I got to walk in a couple mile deep, few mile long cave with nothing but a flashlight, map (which wasn't very good), and both my and my dad's coat because it was FREEZING and I had packed for summer with some moderately cool spots. Haha, brillient me.... Note the sarcasm.
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