Mount Rushmore

In the middle of our long drive to Mount Rushmore, we found a church service to attend in Sheridan, WY.  (We often wonder what people do in all of these little towns.)  We didn’t have an iron the night before to iron Patrick’s church clothes, so he just wore a golf shirt and jeans.  The rest of us looked pretty ragged as well.  Mia had been sleeping in the car, so we carried her in without shoes.  And we were running about 10 minutes late.  We were a little embarrassed to walk in as we were, but when we walked in we were met with many smiling faces who helped us find a place to sit.  We were impressed with their nonjudgmental welcoming.  The speakers spoke about having a Christ-centered home.  We got some great ideas to implement when we get home.  It was a very nice service.  We just stayed for the first hour, and then continued on our way.

We stopped for dinner at a small diner, the Purple Pie Place, about 20 miles before we got to Mount Rushmore.  Mia thought the pink and purple decor was fun.  Our poor server had to service all 9 tables by herself.  Some of the other patrons were not too kind.  She was literally crying as she was trying to help everyone.  We felt sorry for her.  The food was pretty average, but the pie was great.

After we left the diner, we saw these deer at this house around the corner.  We saw a few more deer on the ride to Mount Rushmore.  Emily was nervous that they were going to jump in front of our car.

If you can see past the glare on Patrick's jacket, you'll see Mount Rushmore in the background.  The mountain looked smaller than we expected it to, even though the faces are 45 feet tall.  

Here are the kids with the Hall of Flags and Mount Rushmore in the background.

In the visitor's center, they had a plaque for each president on the wall.  They only posted one quote from each of the presidents, but we felt like the quotes were a good representation of each president and the spirit of America.

We got to Mount Rushmore later than we had planned, but it worked out to our advantage.  At the outdoor amphitheater, they have a ranger-led program at 9 pm, followed by a movie and lighting ceremony of Mount Rushmore.  The kids were able to get and complete their junior ranger booklets before and after the program.  

After the lighting of Mount Rushmore, they invited all active or former military to come to the stage to lower the flag.  They had each of them introduce themselves by name and their service branch.   

The whole Mount Rushmore experience was one of the most patriotic experiences we’ve ever had.  It made us proud of our country and also made us think about what more we can do to contribute.