On to 'the heads' LOL
Hope you're up to it, but here come more photos!
The trip was long and lots of fun. I'd always wanted to see Mount Rushmore and when I finally got the opportunity, I couldn't let it go by. And I can say it did not disappoint. It was just as impressive in person as it is in photographs and on film. It was also interesting how other tourists see it. I was in the hotel lobby chatting with some foreign tourists. They were talking about all the fun things they'd seen; "the heads and the indian" - it took me a few seconds to connect the dots (some days I'm more with it than others lol) and I asked 'you mean the president heads?" and then of course the Indian was the Crazy Horse monument.
The monument was wonderful. We went in the late afternoon, I asked lots of questions and found the history fascinating. I didn't realize that World War II forced it to stop where it is, that the sculptor wanted to do more. Even though it took around thirty years, it's amazing what they accomplished.
For me though, the most impressive was the lowering of the flag. The park rangers invited all veterans and active duty personnel to come down on stage for the lowering of the flag and for the audience to thank them for their service. I was a little surprised by how many people there were on stage, but was so very thankful that there were and are so many people willing to stand up for all of us. The thing that struck me, more than the ceremonial lowering of the flag, than the turning on of the lights against the dark sky, was a single sound.
I don't know at what point of the lowering of the colors that military stand at attention and then salute, but whatever moment it was, I heard it. A loud snap. It startled me, then I realized, it was the people on stage, they'd snapped their feet together and stood at attention, saluting the flag. It was a huge moment for me. I was left in awe. There are no words to thank all those people for what they give up for us and I couldn't clap loudly enough when we were called to thank them.
Another amazing monumental sculpture is the Crazy Horse monument. It's taken much longer, they've been working on it for 70 years, but it was very interesting. The Crazy Horse monument is private, not a national park, but it's won very well and was quite interesting to walk around and learn about the family of the original sculpture who have continued working on it all these years. In the third photo you can see what the mountain is going to look like when it's finished.
While we were in the area, we visited the local town of Keystone. It's very touristy but very western. It reminds me of so many towns in that part of the country, old buildings on either side of a main street with a nice mountain in the background. My friend and I also stopped at one of those old time photo places and took a few photos - no laughing aloud.
Miss Kitty eat your heart out LOL.
I have to admit I don't know how folks get through life without good friends. The whole time we were driving to the book signing, we brainstormed the new series. I've got the plot for the next few books (first one is in progress) and we're still kicking around titles and series name. Who knows if I would ever have come up with it on my own!
okay, that's it for your travel guide of the week LOL. Everyone enjoy your summers - see ya next week!
The trip was long and lots of fun. I'd always wanted to see Mount Rushmore and when I finally got the opportunity, I couldn't let it go by. And I can say it did not disappoint. It was just as impressive in person as it is in photographs and on film. It was also interesting how other tourists see it. I was in the hotel lobby chatting with some foreign tourists. They were talking about all the fun things they'd seen; "the heads and the indian" - it took me a few seconds to connect the dots (some days I'm more with it than others lol) and I asked 'you mean the president heads?" and then of course the Indian was the Crazy Horse monument.
The monument was wonderful. We went in the late afternoon, I asked lots of questions and found the history fascinating. I didn't realize that World War II forced it to stop where it is, that the sculptor wanted to do more. Even though it took around thirty years, it's amazing what they accomplished.
For me though, the most impressive was the lowering of the flag. The park rangers invited all veterans and active duty personnel to come down on stage for the lowering of the flag and for the audience to thank them for their service. I was a little surprised by how many people there were on stage, but was so very thankful that there were and are so many people willing to stand up for all of us. The thing that struck me, more than the ceremonial lowering of the flag, than the turning on of the lights against the dark sky, was a single sound.
I don't know at what point of the lowering of the colors that military stand at attention and then salute, but whatever moment it was, I heard it. A loud snap. It startled me, then I realized, it was the people on stage, they'd snapped their feet together and stood at attention, saluting the flag. It was a huge moment for me. I was left in awe. There are no words to thank all those people for what they give up for us and I couldn't clap loudly enough when we were called to thank them.
Another amazing monumental sculpture is the Crazy Horse monument. It's taken much longer, they've been working on it for 70 years, but it was very interesting. The Crazy Horse monument is private, not a national park, but it's won very well and was quite interesting to walk around and learn about the family of the original sculpture who have continued working on it all these years. In the third photo you can see what the mountain is going to look like when it's finished.
While we were in the area, we visited the local town of Keystone. It's very touristy but very western. It reminds me of so many towns in that part of the country, old buildings on either side of a main street with a nice mountain in the background. My friend and I also stopped at one of those old time photo places and took a few photos - no laughing aloud.
Miss Kitty eat your heart out LOL. I have to admit I don't know how folks get through life without good friends. The whole time we were driving to the book signing, we brainstormed the new series. I've got the plot for the next few books (first one is in progress) and we're still kicking around titles and series name. Who knows if I would ever have come up with it on my own!
okay, that's it for your travel guide of the week LOL. Everyone enjoy your summers - see ya next week!
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