Our Summer Vacation 2009

A couple weeks ago we went on a week-long vacation to Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills in South Dakota. Wow, what a beautiful area of the country! A few months ago, we had the good fortune to get to know Nick & Carolyn Clifford, who live at our RV resort, Far Horizons, in the winter and Rapid City, SD during the summer. They peaked our interest in Mount Rushmore, with Nick’s stories of working as a winchman and driller on the famous faces in 1938-1940, beginning when he was 17. He even wrote a book about it! Mount Rushmore Q&A. Nick is the last surviving workman from the project.

Carolyn and Nick graciously offered to let us stay in Nick’s childhood home in nearby Keystone. It’s a beautiful little house, built in 1895 and restored in 1996. When we arrived, Nick was still working in the gift shop at Mt. Rushmore, answering visitors’ questions and selling his book. Carolyn showed us around the house and announced a change in plans. A park ranger friend of theirs was taking family to the top of Mt. Rushmore, and agreed to take us along!

We met at 7 a.m. the next morning at the memorial. What a sight!

The forested hills include ponderosa pines not unlike our southern Arizona mountains, though South Dakota has gotten a lot more rain this year. We followed the ranger along the walkway to a secret trail(!) up the mountain.

And what a climb it was. Scrambling over rocks, trying to keep our footing while gazing upward at the faces growing bigger and bigger.

Lots of breaks to catch our breath and look down on the visitor center and amphitheater.

Then countless steps ending at the Hall of Records.

We climbed past remnants of the 16 years of drilling during the 1920’s and ‘30’s.

And finally made it to the top.

Oohs and aahs as we looked down on the faces of Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. Teddy Roosevelt is set back between the two.

The rounded hump on the right is George Washington’s head! Also a great place to rest, as Sam discovered.

Then everyone pulled out their cell phones and called friends & family! Above all, we were excited to be there, but it’s also one of the few places in the Black Hills where you can get cell signal.

Much too soon, the ranger herded us down the mountain and back to reality. But what a privilege to have been there. We will cherish the memories of that day.

More of our vacation photos coming soon!