Posts Tagged With: Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

I can hardly believe I am on my way to see Mt. Rushmore!  Such an iconic symbol of The USA, even won the 2013 cover picture to DK’s  (Dorling Kindersley) USA travel book – which by the way are the BEST travel books EVER! They are full of tips and beautiful colored pictures but even that book could not prepare me for what I was about to see.  Having been told so many times ‘You can see it from the road’, I was driving like an 85 year old Sunday driver in fear of missing it.  Hence No Fear! -coming up the steep sloop of a road, around the corner, there is was, and WOW was it a sight! I was so excited I pulled over almost sideswiping some tourist who thought it was perfectly ok to park in the middle of the street and get out to take a picture.  I have to admit, Mount Rushmore, you took my breath away.  We continued on to the actual Memorial and I was relieved to find at 4:00 more people were going than coming.  For those who have never been, I expected the site to be so huge that from looking straight on you would not be able to see all of it.  I was wrong, it was just there, all in one perfect view and it was absolutely beautiful!

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore

After 5 minutes of looking at the Presidents the boys decide they are hungry…it couldn’t have anything to do with the people walking by with Large (notice how I emphasize large) Ice Cream cones.  No line for Ice Cream -Yeah!  There are 6 Ice Cream choices, 1 Size, Cone or Cup.  My son looks at me and says “Can I try the Cookies n Cream?” — I think “What are you an 8 year old ice cream conosier? – the Cookies n Cream will taste very similar if not exactly the same as the last 4 places you tried it and got it!”  Connor gets his cup he ordered and as he is starting to walk away I think, ‘I guess you get a bigger portion in a cone because he didn’t get very much.  Aidan and Finn get their cones, but theirs also look a little skimpy as well.    ” Excuse me,” I say to the cashier who just took my $15 for 3 ice creams, “why do the people with the cones at the door look like they received twice as much as my boys?”  She looked over and said,  “Those are the ‘Original Thomas Jefferson Vanilla Ice Cream’ recipes and you pay $1 more for that.”  So I follow up with “…and you get more ice cream as well?”   “No” she says.  At this point the line has grown very long and I am holding it up, but I could care less, I say “So why are my kids scoops of ice cream so much smaller than everyone else’s?”    Her reply was, “Often times the parents don’t want their kids getting our full portions and they request we give them less.”  I looked her straight in the eyes and with a smile I said, “This Parent never did nor ever will request such a thing.”  She then told me I could send the boys back for another scoop if I wanted to, and believe me, I did.

Don't mess with my kids I will squash you.

Don’t mess with my kids I will squash you.

Beckett Bliss

Beckett Bliss

Future President??

Future President??

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Wall Drug

On the way to Mt.Rushmore in the middle of nowhere, you pass WALL DRUG. What started out years ago as a little drug store became famous for offering Free Ice Water. To advertise this they posted their ‘Free Ice Water’ signs everywhere, it became kind of a ‘thing’ to do, post a sign for them – soldiers even took them to Germany. Today it is not so little, it is more like the size of a Target, but they still offer Free Ice Water, not sure if they actually sell any drugs. We had so much fun on this stop we actually ended up staying for several hours.

Finn Riding a Jack Rabbit with Antlers…

This robotic dinosaur would come to life it was really loud and obnoxious but the boys loved it - scared the diaper off of Beckett

This robotic dinosaur would come to life it was really loud and obnoxious but the boys loved it – scared the diaper off of Beckett

Indian name given to me 'Crazy Woman'

Indian name given to me ‘Crazy Woman’

"Warrior Feather Finn"

“Warrior Feather Finn”

Aidan, hanging on a Buffalo...

Aidan, hanging on a Buffalo…

Love this pic! We are all happy, no fighting, nothing is getting knocked over and we all have shoes!

Here are the Boys filling up on FREE Ice Water before we left...problem was we had to then stop again 30 minutes down the road...

Here are the Boys filling up on FREE Ice Water before we left…problem was we had to then stop again 30 minutes down the road…

I have to say this quick stop (because that is now what I am call anything that takes less than 5 hours) was a Huge success! I only lost one of them once and each only for less than 5 minutes, we didn’t break anything (although we might have come pretty close to the way Aidan was swinging on the Buffalo), no fights, and it only took 45 minutes to pick out a souvenir – Aidan with the all time record of less than 60 seconds! Back on the road again – NEXT STOP: MOUNT RUSHMORE

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