Mount Rushmore

 

Last week in between meetings, we took two days to "splurge" on a family "vacation."  We saw Mount Rushmore and knocked that off Ben's bucket list.  We also drove through the National Park and saw all kind of wildlife.  Elaine wanted to take a cave tour since we had just learned about them in school, so we went through Wind Cave National Park (the world's 6th longest cave!).  We also visited the Mammoth Site and let the kids see fossil excavation. 

 

 

 

We were concerned that our day at Mount Rushmore would be too windy to be enjoyable, but it ended up being perfect!  We enjoyed hiking the Presidential Trail, though half of it was closed for construction.  (That's what we get for coming in the off-season - everything was under construction!)  However, the half that was open ended up being 850 steps round trip!  We made it though, and Nehemiah did every step himself! Liberty...got A LOT of help from Mommy (and she sat a lot too).  So...I hiked for three!  It wasn't exactly the kind of hike that Elaine had in mind, since it was a lot of steps.  Her attitude perked up a lot when we stopped in for ice cream at the end of the trip.

 

 

She wanted to stand on the wall like Elaine did.  Nehemiah wanted NOTHING to do with pictures or the wall!

He made it to Mount Rushmore!

 

Up Close & Personal - they have very large nostrils!  This is Washington and Jefferson

Roosevelt and Lincoln

 

As we neared the end of our hike, we looked up to see a family of mountain goats crossing the trail in front of us.  They ran right over and jumped up on the rocks and watched us continue up the steps.  It's amazing to see them standing on the side of a steep rock without falling!