Detours

Traveling cross-country with four kids is an adventure in itself. Between the lush pine forests of Washington, the blue lakes and rivers of Montana, the rolling green landscapes of Wyoming, and the black hills of South Dakota, we fed raging appetites with cheese crackers and animal cookies, entertained with sundry songs, electronic games and videos, and extinguished intermittent fires of discontent in the backseat of our insect-encrusted van.

Now, that's just gross.

After living in the desert for the last three years, it has been a treat to again enjoy the diverse beauty which arises from our rich American soil. Okay, we could've done without the bug corpses - but that's all part and parcel, right? Did you know there is a town in Missouri called "Emma"? There is, and this is our proof.

We made several stops along our way to Illinois, where we are staying for a few days before our journey culminates at last in Michigan. Our first detour was in Butte, Montana. We were grateful that we had reserved our room at the local Motel 6 ahead of time. We didn't realize until our arrival that all the "economy" hotels were full because of Evel Knieval Days - a week devoted to bikes and crazy stunts inspired by Butte's locally grown stunt hero: Robert "Evel" Knieval. We learned from the complimentary paper in the motel's lobby where to find Evel's final resting place, so we made a quick side trip to pay our respects. On the back of his head stone was a saying I liked: "A man can fall many times in life, but he's never a failure if he tries to get up." From a man that broke around 40 bones in his body and kept getting up, that's saying something!

A mere 11 hours later we made it to our next much anticipated stop in Rapid City, South Dakota. I have seen the Eiffel Tower, the Taj Mahal, the Colosseum, and even to Ski Dubai. More than any of these cultural icons, my first glimpse of Mount Rushmore through dimming light, the trees and hills, made my heart leap. Looking at the photo above, you can see our girls are pretty excited as well. Except they are not looking at the colossal carving directly in front of them. They are giddy with excitement over seeing a chipmunk on a rock.

Here is Alvin the Chipmunk. He was very cute.

Here we are before Alvin got us all excited.

Here we are after Alvin got us all excited, trying to look like the presidents over-head.

We enjoyed walking around the monument, poking around the little museums and gift shops. I got myself a nice fridge magnet.

All the chipmunking and merchandising aside, I admit my inner patriotic fire was lit as we contemplated this massive sculpture representing great men who achieved even greater deeds. As I mentioned earlier, my first glimpse of Mount Rushmore was in the rapidly dimming light. (All the pictures above were taken the next morning.) After checking into our next very sketchy Motel 6 in Rapid City, we sped the next 30 miles into Keystone - a quaint tourist area with picturesque cabins, camping areas, shops and intriguing lures like Bear Country, Reptile World, Crystal Caverns, and many, many more things that would be fun to check out. We would like to return and spend a week here and in other parts of the Black Hills area.

By the time we got to the monument, paid our $10 parking fee, and rushed to the Grand Viewing Terrace, the Black Hills were dark. We wandered amongst the other expectant Rushmore pilgrims, waiting for the lighting ceremony to begin. After a few moments I heard a faint voice being produced and magnified from the distance. We finally realized the park ranger had begun his nightly speel about the monument, and we could just barely see and hear him through the heads and bodies of all the other late-comers. We were surprised to see hundreds of other tourists seated below us in a large outdoor ampitheater.

Just then, thunder rumbled in the distance, and as the film began (that was also very tricky for us to see) we began to get a little sprinkled with rain. We held our ground, though, and waited for the grand finale: the gradual dramatic lighting of the presidential four accompanied by the whole crowd singing the National Anthem. I really tried to get into the moment - almost hitting the high notes and only mixing up a few of the words, with the occasional offspring interruption having to do with complaints about the rain and inquiries concerning various flying beasts: bird or bat? We resolved to definitely return the next morning, to see our favorite presidents in the daylight, without the rain and unidentified flying objects.

Some things I gleaned from our Oh!Ranger pamphlet:

George Washington: "The Father of our Country." The nation's first president earned his place as the foremost figure in the presidential portrait

Thomas Jefferson's face is looking to the heavens, emphasizing his reputation as a visionary and philosopher.

Theodore Roosevelt was a close friend with Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor, who identified with "T.R.'s" energy and charisma, and saw him as the epitome of the American spirit.

Abraham Lincoln was Borglum's favorite leader. Borglum even named his only son after him. Borglum chose to portray Lincoln with the beard and determined look he wore during his tenure in office.