(which was moving as far as hell away from Seattle)
and you forget to have a little fun on the rare opportunities you get in the middle of nowhere. Up to this point in the trip it had been all business, but today we were going to take a little time for ourselves. Yes indeedy, today we were going to see a bunch of dead people carved into a rock, then probably take pictures of it.
We woke up pretty early because we had a bunch of stuff we wanted to do today, and if we waste even the smallest amount of time we weren't going to be able to complete all of our goals. Against all laws of thermodynamics, our room somehow went from 100 degrees F when we fell asleep to 55 degrees F when we woke up. Turns out we actually slept rather comfortably. We wasted no time getting ready, had some leftover pizza for breakfast, checked out of the Castle, and by 9AM we were on our way to Mt. Rushmore and all its granite glory.
I have 47 more pictures that look exactly like that one. It was actually pretty neat, one of those places that look EXACTLY the way it does in all the pictures. There's probably a bunch of history behind it too, but I just wanted the pictures. The most important of all being this one below:
You might be thinking, "Now James, that's just a picture of a dollar bill with a sombrero in the foreground and Mt. Rushmore in the background, what's so strange about that?" Well I'm glad you asked, friend-who-only-exists-in-my-head. A buddy of mind back in Seattle started a little project awhile back where, instead of paying a dollar back to a friend, that little dollar bill would travel all around the world and have its amazing journey documented by photos such as mine above. I am quite proud to be a part of that journey. See it here!
(you'll never guess who took it to Finland/Sweden!)
One thing I was quite surprised about was exactly how much of the monument was left unfinished due to budget cuts,
(lousy government)
but here's a picture of what the completed monument would have looked like:
Side note, that model isn't made of bronze, it's a giant chocolate rice crispy treat used to feed the museum workers and small children who visit. Tasty!
So, after many a picture, lots of staring, and a 15 minute presentation on how the monument was constructed, we bailed. Our visit will be forever immortalized in pictures, blog posts, and the receipt for the mandatory $10 yearly parking pass.
Though after I had left, I couldn't help but think that somehow, for some reason, I had left my mark on Mt. Rushmore. Specifically, that I did something that will force our country to open our eyes and see who our true heroes are. I feel like my presence had somehow changed Mt. Rushmore for the better. But who knows...it was just a feeling.
By the time we left it was 11AM and I had fulfilled 1 of my 2 friendly duties
(remember, the dollar with the sombrero?)
of the trip. I still had to make my way to the Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD and send some of my pals a post card from the biggest tourist trap west of the Mississippi!
Yee-haw! Wall Drug here we come! Again, instead of giving you the whole history of the place
(boring and I have no idea what it is)
I'll just post a link. I had promised to send a few lovely ladies some lovely postcards from this lovely place, plus it gave us a reason to stop and check it out, and boy am I glad we did! I mean there was a giant jackrabbit! And...umm...the largest collection of antique barbed wire in the country!
(Certified from the American Association of Antique Barbed Wire Collecting! Seriously!)
Oh and they also had the largest T-Rex that I have ever seen!
That was taken only seconds before the thing actually came to life and started screaming and producing large amounts of fog,
(again, seriously)
but luckily I was spared. The giant jackrabbit, however, was not. After the T-Rex show Rachel and I sat down, wrote out our postcards, posted them, and were back in the car, ready to endure the rest of South Dakota.
The rest of the day in the car was pretty dull. I mean come on! Giant presidents, giant jackrabbit, giant T-Rex, how can you not be let down after a morning like that? We pulled into Albert Lea, MN pretty late and decided to splurge and actually get a room with a bed and 4 walls, because at that point we both knew that this was going to be our last night on the road. We had made it far enough so that we could finish up our trip tomorrow. It was both exciting and a bit sad at the same time. One day left on the road, one day left in the transition between eras, one day left before the next phase of our lives begin.
Day 3 Stats
Distance traveled: 566 mi
Time in car: ~ 8 hours, 30 minutes (not including sight-seeing)
$ spent on gas: $55.44 + whatever it cost to fill up in Rapid City after leaving Mt. Rushmore
(Receipt whereabouts currently unknown)
# of states: 2 (South Dakota, Minnesota)
# of giant heads carved into granite: 4
# of giant dinosaurs: 2.5
(we saw this outside of Wall)
Goal for Day 4: Brighton, MI
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