Mount Rushmore

Wednesday, June 27th, 2011

We had a very busy and fun day.  The weather was beautiful.  We did a lot of activities at the campground and also in the town of Keystone before heading up to Mount Rushmore after dinner.  This is because we wanted to see the daily evening lighting show of the monument.

First we had a round of mini golf at the campground.  That was fun!

Claire and Eric played a GIANT game of checkers!

Jen  and the kids did the water slide again....

Yes, I tried it too.  It was fun - but a bit scary for me.  I thought we were going to launch over the side on the way down.

Eric and I enjoyed a game of catch while Jen made tuna sandwiches for lunch.  We played a round of Rumikube while we had our lunch.

Then we headed into town for some shopping and dinner.  Here are Claire and Eric enjoying Jake the Snake at his gift shop.  We didn't know this, but Jake moved and talked (remotely by a gentleman on the other side of the store).  That led to some funny stuff then :-)

After dinner in the town of Keystone (Pizza!)  we headed up to Mount Rushmore.  We enjoyed the museums, gift shops and a video presentation too. 

The picture below was taken during a hike that Eric and I took that brings you very close to the monument.  We could see the drill holes in the fallen rocks below the monument.

Eric got to tickle George's head...

Claire held the monument up for a picture...

We stayed for the evening lighting ceremony too.  At the end of the ceremony it was time to lower the American flag.  The ranger in charge invited all of the veterans in the audience to come onto the stage.  This was both active duty and prior service.  I headed to the stage.  It was an emotional event for me when the audience applauded (tears in my eyes now while I type).  There were a lot of us up there.

It was a beautiful day and one I will not forget.