The entrance to the monument is very nice, of course it would have been nicer if it had been about 40 degrees warmer!
Yep, that's him! My sweet husband Wayne standing at the entrance of Mt. Rushmore National Monument, who, as some of you know, had thumbed his nose at the monument during earlier visits to the area. Well this time he went, he took the plunge, he actually was in attendance at the foot of the monument.
We went inside the restaurant to get some breakfast since we hadn't eaten yet. As you will remember if you saw the Hitchcock movie North by Northwest with Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, there was a very important scene filmed in the restaurant. It has, of course, been revamped and reconditioned quite a bit since then, but still basically the same room.
Notice the gold hanging lights. There is a wrought iron "man" hanging from a rope and seems to be hammering on the monument.
You can see the monument through the window of the restaurant.
Here are a few more Mount Rushmore facts for inquiring minds
- Borglum was 60 years old when he began working on the monument.
- Rushmore's granite faces tower over 5,500 feet above sea level.
- The carvings are scaled to men who would stand 465 feet tall.
- Each President's head is as tall as a six-story building.
- Over 800 million pounds of stone was removed from Mount Rushmore during the construction.
- Imagine climbing 506 steps to reach the top of Mount Rushmore-this was how many steps the workers had to climb each day!
- The president's noses are 20 feet long, their mouths 18 feet wide, and their eyes are 11 feet across!
- Did you know that Gutzon Borglum was a student of renowned French artist Auguste Rodin, and was one of America's most successful artists before even considering Mount Rushmore? His Mares of Diomedes was the first American work purchased by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also has 5 statues on display at the U.S. Capitol Building.
- Here is an astonishing fact: no deaths occurred during the whole period of carving, just a few minor injuries.
- Can you imagine that with all the dynamite used?
Of course we made the obligatory visit to the Gift Shop. Got a few really useless things that will probably never be used, but isn't that what we do? No, just kidding. I got some very nice things and I have passed that desire to buy all the useless things that only gather dust when you get home.
It doesn't matter how many times you see this, in my opinion, it is always breathtaking.
Well, our visit to Mt. Rushmore finished and we were both sufficiently frozen, we leave the area and head west on I-90. We are actually going to Yellowstone again on our way home, but with the weather so threatening and so much snow all around us, we decided to take the interstate instead of the state highway that we normally would take.
We don't like being on the interstate because it is so impersonal and not likely to be anything but tourist traps. You meet more nice people in little towns along little highways. But today we decided to be safe, not sorry.
This was especially when Wayne had a conversation with a park ranger at Rushmore who told him that in no way should we go through Wyoming (the shortest route), instead take I-90 thru Montana. That cinched it, after our GPS lady, Google Maps, AND the park ranger said to take I-90, well you know....that's exactly what we did.
Tonight we are in Sheridan, Wyoming in a very nice Hampton Inn room and plan to travel the 4 hours remaining to get back into our nirvana, Yellowstone tomorrow.
We love it there. There is a special peace that takes over your soul in Yellowstone. We are so happy to get back there tomorrow.
Oh, and by the way, Wayne did say he was glad he went and enjoyed seeing Mt. Rushmore. YEAAAA ~
Oh, and by the way, Wayne did say he was glad he went and enjoyed seeing Mt. Rushmore. YEAAAA ~
Thanks to all for following us!
Love Love Love and Peace to everyone...
Wayne and Colleen
