We awoke in Ogallala on day 3, enjoyed coffee, exercised in cooler weather, and heated breakfast prepped items before leaving before 8 again.
The kids and I did another day of school work during the morning hours as we drove, and we stopped at a gas station at noon, grabbing Subway for our lunch. We only lacked an hour to our destination, which was Southern Hills RV and Campground in Hermosa, South Dakota. By this time we were seeing lots of motorcycles headed to Sturgis!
After settling at our RV park, we unhooked our vehicles and prepared to drive to Mount Rushmore. Most of my research showed that 4-5 hours was sufficient time for spending at this memorial, and I would agree with that! We arrived around 2:30, paid $10 per parked car ($5 for Seniors’ car), and began our agenda at the memorial!
1.) we walked through the Avenue of Flags and of course took a photo beside the Texas one. We also read the list of workers’ names and found Momma’s maiden name on there!
2.) we walked the presidential trail clockwise, which I read meant going down more stairs than up more stairs. We enjoyed this walk and took our time, stopping at various viewing points of the memorial.
3.) we visited the Sculptor’s Studio and saw the scaled sculptures, asked questions of the park ranger, and learned a good bit about the sculpting process.
4.) we continued back to the terrace to the exhibit theater where they play a short movie about the people and process involved in the creation of Mount Rushmore. I learned so much!
Later, I asked the kids what they learned and what was most significant to them. Here are their responses:
6 year old C: how the workers used dynamite in a honeycomb method to blow up the mountain before carving
10 year old B: how Teddy Bears got their name from the story of Teddy Rosevelt choosing not to kill that bear
12 year old B: how no one was killed in 14 years in the process of carving Mount Rushmore
It truly was neat to see this national monument with our family…check out the cover of our school books this year for our history cycle.
It also was gratifying to see many of the Landmark books the boys have already read for school about Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Rosevelt for sale in the gift shops.
It was about 5:30 when we finished our agenda at the monument, and loaded up to travel back into Keystone less than 2 miles for dinner. I read reviews from several blogs, and Nick had chosen The Ruby House from my list. They don’t take reservations until after the motorcycle rally ends, but we only had to wait about 20 minutes for a table. This early 1900s style building had plenty to see on the walls, and everyone ordered a variety of items from the menu. Three of us ordered Buffalo Stew in a bread bowl and it was steaming hot with chunks of Buffalo and vegetables- very yummy!
After dinner, we walked across the street to the top recommended ice cream shop in the area- Benky’s. Nammaw and Pappaw treated us all to a variety of flavors and we left sticky and filled to the brim! Although we all could have taken a nap by this time, we drove back to Mount Rushmore for the evening lighting of the memorial.
The program started at 9, and we arrived around 8:15 in plenty of time to grab good seats in the amphitheater. The program began with a Ranger’s talk, followed by a movie about each of the four presidents, and then the lighting of the memorial during the song America the Beautiful. We then all sang the national anthem, and the ranger invited all former and current military to the stage, as well as anyone representing family who died serving. It was truly a moving ceremony. As tired as we were, I’m so glad we went and took the kids with us. It’s a can’t-miss program and I would encourage everyone to attend it if possible. We as Americans can always learn something from the history of these four presidents and the values they embodied.
jami lee gainey 