Day 7 - Sunday, July 26 (Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse)

In the Black Hills today, we visited Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial and drove on Needles Highway. Pictures do not capture the enormity of it all. The granite glistens with many different types of rock composites, reflecting the sunlight in dazzling ways. At Mt. Rushmore, we learned that the heads of the sculptures tower as high as six-story buildings! The eyes span 11 feet across and the noses about 20 feet. Two interesting factoids we discovered: originally, the artists carved Thomas Jefferson to the left of George Washington, but demolished it when they found rock deformities. Also, contrary to popular rumors, no more faces will be added, as Congress passed a decree stating that Mt. Rushmore is complete.

The National Park Service impressed us greatly on our visit. With four adults, each thinking the others had Eli, we got separated from him. After about 15 minutes of searching everywhere, I asked a park ranger if they had a meeting place for lost children. He took me to a ranger who got a description of Eli and sent it to all the rangers via walkie-talkie within a minute of my reporting him. Bo, of course, found Eli who had started walking toward the van when we got separated. But, I greatly appreciated the vigilance of the Park Service!

The story of the Crazy Horse Memorial fascinated us. Lakota chiefs approached the sculpture to design and build a memorial and he and his whole family committed their lives to it. They made a pledge not to take any government money, and we puzzled over that one. They certainly could have completed the memorial by now (they began in the 1940's) with government funding. Did they not want the strings they felt would be attached? Did they want to honor the Native Americans by not taking anything from a government that mistreated them? Was it simply based on a prideful sense of doing it ourselves? We really don't know. But, here 60 some years later, they have only completed the face. They still have the horse and the rest of the rider to carve.

We returned to camp for supper and played Cranium afterwards until late. How fun to be with Jim and David and just enjoy some play time. Tomorrow, because of the rainy forecast, we will head to the caves--either Wind Cave or Jewel Cave, and the geology museum. We feel so very grateful to have the opportunity to revel in God's creation!