Mt Rushmore

We knew that there would be a couple of long driving days at this point in our trip.  That was certainly the case across South Dakota.  However, with the help of Harry Potter on CD and the beauty of the countryside, they were enjoyable hours.

Mt. Rushmore National Monument was our next destination.  It is a marvelous place.  This was the view of the monument from the parking lot.

On the way to the viewing site, the path is lined with official state flags of all the states.  It is an impressive site.  You can see California right in the front.  :o)

There is a very nice Visitor's Center there that tells the history of the mountain and describes the process of carving the faces.  There are some interactive displays and a nice 14 minute movie.  We thought it was well worth making it a stop on our journey.



One of the things we learned is that Thomas Jefferson was not only the author of the U.S. Constitution, but he also created the recipe for ice cream.  It would be un-American not to eat ice cream while we were there, and besides, they had delicious Pralines and Cream and Mint Chocolate Chip.  MMMmmm.

We were feeling great and decided to keep on driving.  Our next stop would be Martin's Cove in Wyoming.  We passed Casper, Wyoming about 8:30 and decided to go on up the mountain to the next town, Alcova.  We thought we would probably be able to find a motel there.  We did find one but when we drove up, it didn't look too promising.  Then we saw a sign over a door that identified the laundry and the showers.  Not being too keen on public showers, we decided we would just backtrack 30 minutes to Casper and stay there.  By the time we got back to Casper and checked with the 3rd motel for a room, the very kind clerk at Quality Inn told us that every motel in Casper was full.  She had a list that she had been calling for customers all evening.  It was now 10:40 and the very real possibility of sleeping in the car was looming.  However, this kind clerk gave us the number of a motel in Glenrock--another 30 minutes backtrack--that we could try.  Hooray, they did have a room and she would hold it for us.  It turned out to be one of the nicest motel rooms we have stayed in.  So, we had to do a bit extra driving, but we didn't have to sleep in the car.