Face to Face

Day 3 of the Great American Roadtrip found us spending the night in Keystone, South Dakota, home of Mount Rushmore.

As we entered the state of South Dakota, we stopped at the visitor center for a bathroom break. Talking to the lady at the counter, she told us all the great things to see across the state. Telling her we were going to Mt. Rushmore, she said the lighting ceremony was worth going to. During the summer, the ceremony was at 9PM. We flew across the country at 85 MPH with a ginormous duffel bag on top of the car causing us to get horrible gas mileage. Having some picky eaters, I thought some Chick-Fil-A would be a pick me up for the kids who had suffered 3 full days of riding in the car. A quick google search showed Rapid City having a Chick-Fil-A, so our dinner plan was set.

Getting close to Grand Rapid, I searched for the address for the Chick-Fil-A. That's when I realized my google search had failed me. What I thought was a yelp review for Chick-Fil-A was reviews for restaurants not Chick-Fil-A. There is a petition though to get Chick-Fil-A in Grand Rapid. So we ended up at Taco Bell and Arby's. After going back to Taco Bell because they forgot part of my order, we made it to Mt. Rushmore with just a few minutes to spare for this great lighting ceremony.

Mt. Rushmore

My wife asked the kids to get together for a photo. They decided to pose like the Presidents.

As the sun began to set, the Faces changed as the light faded.

And then at 9PM, the lighting ceremony started. A park ranger gave a short talk expounding on President John F Kennedy's remarks in his inaugural address, Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. He talked about how the 4 Presidents on the rock before us as done just that. He closed asking us to do the same, including those who weren't American. We sang the National Anthem and then, the big moment arrived. The lighting of the faces.

That's it. Some white spotlights on the faces that drowned out any detail.

We walked the trails that go to the bottom of the mountain and things got a little better.

Heading out of the park to go back to Keystone to our hotel room, we took our final look at the Faces for the evening.

Mt. Rushmore was certainly the most overrated part of the Great American Roadtrip, and possibly the most overrated National Memorial. You drive out all that way and it's just some faces, an incomplete carving in the mountain. And the lighting ceremony, well, maybe they should look into something like they do at Stone Mountain in Georgia. George Washington talking to us might make it pretty worthwhile.

Driving out the next day to the plains of Wyoming, we stopped for one last look at President Washington.