Day 3 - Rushmore and Custer State Park

Today was an eventful day. All of us, besides Eleanor, were up before 7, likely due to the time change. That was okay, though, because Will had read that Mount Rushmore can get crowded early. We set off around 8:30 or so and were parked and walking up to the monument by 9. 

I literally knew nothing about Mount Rushmore, other than the fact that it existed and I wanted to go there some day. So today, I learned a whole lot. Admittedly, I learned a lot mostly from helping the kids with their junior ranger packet. We decided to do it, hoping they would get a patch. But all they got was a lame plastic junior ranger badge. :) Ethan said, "If I knew it was just a pin, I wouldn't have done that." But we had to pay attention to the exhibits in the museums and during the movie, which was quite interesting. The man who thought of the idea for Rushmore was named Doane Montgomery. He thought it would be cool to carve out people like William Cody and other Western icons. He commissioned Gutzon Borglum, a sculptor, who thought these important presidents were a better idea. The way he built it, using a scale model and a whole lot of dynamite strategically placed, is pretty incredible. 

Before we even went to the museum, we took the short hike that takes you a bit up the hill. Ethan had the camera and took pictures of each individual president. There were several spots to get good pictures and se some of the details like Theodore Roosevelt's glasses and Abe Lincoln's hair. The whole thing took fourteen years to complete. Sadly, Borglum died as they were planning the final dedication. Most of the work had been done, though, so his son Lincoln finished as head sculptor. It was fun to learn more about Mount Rushmore and knock it off the list. 

From Rushmore, we were going to head to a place called Hippy Hill that the guy at our lodge recommended. Apparently, hippies gather there yearly, hence the name. It's a hike down a steep hill (duh) that leads to a lake into which people love to jump from rocks. He thought it had a spot to get in that didn't involve cliff diving. But we realized we didn't have Eleanor's suit with us, so we drove past where we needed to go and back to our place to get it. We had packed a lunch and just ate it in our room and did a bit more research. It looked pretty cool and fun, but I couldn't tell if there was a safe place to go in. And, there were several articles involving deaths there. So we decided to pass-you're welcome, grandparents. There's another place called Devil's Bathtub, which has a lot of natural water slides and such, but it was northwest over an hour. A lot of people said it was cool but difficult to find the trail at times, so we passed on that too. 

We are near Custer State Park, so we looked up lakes there and saw one called Sylvan Lake that looked really pretty and has a beach. Off we went. It was only 14 miles but took over half an hour because once you got close to the park, you were on roads with  u-turn switch backs. It really seems like we are in the mountains. We need to google what the difference is between a hill and a mountain. Anyway, the lake was very pretty. It had a lot of big rocks sticking right out of it. Ethan and dad decided to get good and hot with a hike, but Eleanor was interested in swimming, so we walked to the beach area. Water was cold but doable. Eleanor swam out to a big rock about 50 yards in and then settled in on the rocky beach. Will and Ethan came back, and Ethan really wanted to show me some of the hike they did, so we set off. There are a lot of spots where there are just boulders on top of boulders, and they are mostly easy to climb with the right footwear, and it makes you feel like you're really climbing a mountain. It was fun, but both Will and I have had to have several stern talks with Ethan, who wants to push the limits of what he can do. He keeps wanting to go up higher and higher or closer and closer to the edge. He will say things like I'm not going to get hurt, mom. I keep having to remind him that of course he doesn't intend to get hurt. I can only hope that at some point he will take his kids someplace similar and have the same anxiety we do. In fact, just yesterday he announced, "I can't wait to take my kids to the Badlands!" We hope we're around to listen to his stories of his kids' scaring him.

We left the beach, with some urging from me, who is always more aware of the time and what we still need to see/do. We stopped at a grocery on the way home to grab some sausage, potatoes, and green beans. We have access to a grill here and all kinds of kitchen tools in a bin we brought, so I cut the potatoes, seasoned them with salt, pepper and herbs, threw some butter on them and wrapped them all in foil. They took way longer than expected, so we kind of had a tasting menu of sausage, followed by green beans, finished off with potatoes. After dinner, we made a fire in one of a few pits they have and had s'mores. We had all the supplies with us already. 

Then it was shower time (mine was ice cold halfway through because Eleanor went before me) and now we are in bed. Well, Will is out reading in the lodge lobby, and I am telling Eleanor to be quiet and that of course she can't fall asleep because she's talking. 

We have a long drive to Cody tomorrow, closer to 7 hours. We will spend two nights in Cody so we have one full day there. I am anxious to get to West Yellowstone where we can do some laundry and settle in since we have 5 nights there. We are all enjoying ourselves, though, so I'm sure we will enjoy Cody, too. I have to say I had no idea that so much of South Dakota was this pretty. Driving several times to Webster, I thought of it as much more flat. We'll be sad to say goodbye tomorrow.