I must say that sleeping on the ground (on an air mattress, of course) is good for me. I sleep really well and so does Bus. Course he sleeps well pretty much anywhere.
They had a pancake tent at the KOA campground so Bus and I checked it out. For $3.50 you can get a stack of three substantial pancakes. Course their syrup is not proper maple syrup but the deal was pretty good anyway.
We were on the road towards Mount Rushmore by 8:30 so parking was no issue at all. Luckily they have a parking garage because Bus was not allowed to join me on the walk to the monument. He didn’t complain about having to sleep in the car while I went exploring.
Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln directed the work on this sculpture that was completed in 1941. It is very impressive. There are a set of plaques by the museum’s windows that look out on the sculpture that contain some interesting tidbits of information. The original plan had Jefferson as the first on the left side but that didn’t work out so Washington ended up on the left. Jefferson’s face has a crack running down the right side. Roosevelt was sculpted with a groove under his right eye which suggests the monocle he always wore. And Lincoln was sculpted with a beard though Borglum was asked to make him clean-shaven. The eyes are all especially compelling. They were achieved by making deep cuts and leaving a central post as the iris with a polished end to reflect the sun more and give the eyes a glint.
Bus and I were eager to hit the road and see how far we could go today. It’s surprising how far we have left to travel. After we left Mount Rushmore the landscape eventually smoothed out into flat plains that went on for miles and miles.
We passed through areas of Badlands (like in Alberta) complete with dinosaur statues and then over the Lewis-Clark trail where we found this beautiful statue at a rest stop.
We haven’t had wifi for three days and my blog was at a standstill. Even my cell service had been very spotty. I know that a few people were concerned and I even got a call from Jim and Lori when I was at Mount Rushmore. But not to worry. We made it to Minnesota and are at a Quality Inn with wifi. So now the blog is up-to-date.
I am heading to Chapleau north of the Sault but am not sure I will be able to make it there tomorrow since I really don’t push it if I get tired. So maybe it will be Sunday.
Anyway, I should be back in Guelph next week. I’ll keep you posted.