Stan and Gail had suggested we head through South Dakota on our way to Colorado so we could get a look at Mount Rushmore. After the drive through Minnesota and South Dakota it was a surprise to leave Rapid City and immediately start ascending.
We climbed into the Black Hills for a couple of hours before we reached the site, where a friendly ranger sold us a 365 day parking permit (they have to make money somehow) and we hopped out to have a look around.
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| Hey, those guys look a lot like a cliff-face I know. |
The first thing I noticed was; I thought it would be bigger. The second thing; this would be a lot nicer without all the faces carved in it.
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| No you're right, that doesn't look out of place at all. |
After stopping to admire the wildlife we went on the little walk which takes visitors under the Presidential noses.
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| Unlike these goaty things. |
The entire experience was quite off-putting. While I'm glad to have the boasting-rights about visiting another American landmark, I found the site itself quite hollow. The carving of the faces has, if anything, destroyed what was a beautiful natural sight. There is no acknowledgment of this at the monument; rather, all the information provided is a penis-waving blitz about 'American ingenuity and achievement.'
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| Mountain driving is fun. |
That sort of thing is acceptable in the Henry Ford Museum, but not at a stolen Sioux
holy site. I'm learning that expecting humility of any sort from America is a futile effort.
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| There's nothing to see in Wyoming, but by God there's a lot of nothing. |
We drove down through the Black Hills, a glorious and fun drive, and entered the plains of Wyoming. There's not much to see in Wyoming. We didn't stop for fuel before we left South Dakota. Fortunately our car provides us with a mile count-down to tell us how far we can get with the fuel we have. Unfortunately we watched it count down to 'Low' without seeing a town, house, car or living animal in Wyoming until we pulled into the town of
Lusk, running on fumes. Lusk is now one of our favourite places.
As we left Wyoming we drove steadily uphill into Colorado and our next stop, Denver.
Wow, you're really hitting those icon sites. Know the feeling well about low petrol. Had a similar feeling in August somewhere north of Christchurch.
ReplyDeleteFor forthcoming locations: in LA, highly recommend the Getty Museum, though we saw it in it's former location (Santa Monica) and not sure if you can still go into that site. New Getty should be great. San Diego Zoo is apparently worth a look. And in San Francisco, City Lights Bookshop is one to see (so I hear).