On the road, Part V: Living up to expectations

As the above title suggests, there may be times when famous sightseeing spots do not live up to the tourist hype. The Mannekin Pis statue in Brussels is very "meh". There's really no point in stopping by Piccadilly Circus in London other than to have your picture taken in front of Eros (and which isn't actually a rendering of the Greek god of love). And Sun Moon Lake isn't worth the trouble to visit, unless you've seen pretty much everything else in Taiwan. On the other hand, other places more than meet expectations. The Great Wall (at least the section I walked on) and the cruise down the Li River in China were fantastic. Yellowstone National Park also lives up to the hype, with the arguable exception of Old Faithful. And then there's Mt. Rushmore. Even if you've never been there, you know what it's going to look like, and yet after walking through the parking lot and entrance area, the first glimpse of the iconic monument didn't fail to impress:

There isn't much else to do at the Mt. Rushmore National Memorial except to gaze in awe at the 60 foot (18 meters)-tall granite sculptures of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln and marvel at the skill and artistry of the man behind it, Gutzon Borglum, who labored on the monument from 1927 to 1941 (and didn't live to see its completion). Even my wife was impressed:

The Presidential Trail offers closer views of the presidents, especially Washington, as well as providing an escape from the crowds (though nothing like the chaos that would prevail at similarly popular sites in China):

The trail leads to the Sculptor's Studio, where Borglum spent much of his time working on scale models of his creation. As you can see below, his original vision was for the presidents to be carved from their heads to their waists, but funding ran out, leaving the mountain in its current form:

Taking a snack break, Amber munched on vanilla ice cream supposedly made from a recipe by none other than Thomas Jefferson, who apparently could add the title of "glacier" to his already impressive resume:

The onsite museum provides a good overview of the construction of the monument. Over 90% of the sculpting was done through the use of dynamite; one fun exhibit lets you push the plunger and set off a blast from eight decades ago:

Just as at Yellowstone, the National Park Service rangers at Mt. Rushmore offer a Junior Ranger activity program for the kids to earn badges. Amber proudly shows off her second one of our trip (the first one was received at Yellowstone, of course):

The monument is clearly the center of attention in the area, but a drive around the rear of the mountain uncovered some impressive Black Hills scenery as well as numerous picnicking spots:

You can also get a view of Washington's profile:

There are other places nearby that most likely are worth checking out, like the Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park, but our itinerary limited us to just this one day, so we spent the rest of the afternoon in Keystone, a historic mining town that has succumbed to the pursuit of tourist dollars. The Reuben sandwich I had at Teddy's Deli was pretty good, as the testimonials from the 26th president lining the walls attested to (and my apologies to grammarians everywhere for ending a sentence with a preposition):

Back at our hotel, a deer foraging in the hill behind our room looked at me looking at it. We saw other deer along Highway 16, as well as wild pheasants next to the hotel's parking lot:

The following morning (Wednesday, Sept. 2), we left Keystone and continued east along Interstate 90. You can't drive through South Dakota without stopping at Wall Drug. It can't be helped; there are signs hyping the place for miles along the freeway before you reach it. It's basically a shopping center that has been around since the 1930's; amazingly, the ice water is free and the coffee is only 5¢. I got what I paid for, though the donuts aren't bad:

Kudos to the state of South Dakota for their freeway rest stops. The one at Chamberlain has a museum on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, as well as good views of Lake Francis Case (the explorers stopped there twice on their journey to and from the west coast):

We couldn't leave South Dakota without driving into Mitchell (population 15,000) to see The World's Only Corn Palace. It's a concert hall/gymnasium decorated with artistic designs and murals made from corn and other grains; the theme changes yearly, shown on the displays inside the building. Lonely Planet describes the Corn Palace as the "Taj Mahal of agriculture":

We had also planned to the see the waterfalls that give the city of Sioux Falls its name, but as we left I-90 to head to Falls Park, the oil lamp on the dashboard came on. Fortunately, it did so right in front of a large truck stop complete with a Denny's, so we had dinner while the engine cooled, then added several quarts of oil afterward. Unfortunately, it was getting late in the evening, so we skipped the falls and drove across the border into Minnesota, finding a room for the night at a hotel in Luverne (population 4800). We awoke to a bright and sunny Thursday morning in the Midwest:

We had a long drive ahead of us to Chicago, so we concentrated on motoring through the countryside of southern Minnesota (had we more time I would've tried to meet up with a friend from my days in Japan who lives in Minneapolis), stopping just before the Wisconsin state line to have lunch:

Crossing the Mississippi into Wisconsin (no photo ops, unfortunately), we drove on until the state capital, Madison, where we decided it was time for a break and stretch our legs:

The State Capitol is the largest capitol building in the U.S. after the one in Washington, D.C. Visitors can walk up to the observation deck for some good views:

It's Wisconsin, so it has to be a badger:

Freedom of speech in action: not every Wisconsin resident is happy with their governor, one of hundreds of Republicans vying for their party's presidential nomination:

A giant cow waits to be milked in the parking lot of an Arby's in the suburbs of Rockford, Illinois. You might ask "Why?". I might ask "Why not?":

We finally reached Chicago after the sun had gone down, but heavy traffic delayed our arrival at our downtown hotel by over an hour. It was the end of a long day, but at least we wouldn't have to drive for the next couple of days.

To be continued...

On the Road, Part IV: Making a stand on the way to Mt. Rushmore

Sunday, August 30: We leave West Yellowstone, Montana for Keystone, South Dakota, gateway to Mt. Rushmore. It's a long drive, so to break up the monotony for my wife and daughter (but not for me; I could spend the rest of my days driving through the western U.S. and be happy doing so), we make a stop in Bozeman, Montana, to visit the Museum of the Rockies, which is operated by Montana State University. "Mike" the Tyrannosaurus rex is there to welcome visitors inside:

The museum has an impressive exhibit of dinosaur fossils, with pride of place going to its collection of triceratops skulls. For Amber, who hasn't yet outgrown her childhood interest in the terrible lizards, it was one fascinating display case after another:

But it wasn't all dinosaur bones at the museum, though the state of Montana seems to have them in abundance. There were also exhibits on Native American culture, life in Montana through the decades (including a mock-up of a roadside filling station from the 1930's, pictured below) and, a little incongruously, a special exhibition on the history of chocolate (not one of the Big Sky state's noted products):

After visiting the planetarium, we emerged outside and back into the inspiring Montana scenery...and "Mike":

Next door to the museum is an old farmhouse built in the late 19th century and which was still lived in until the 1960's. Still containing much of its original furnishings, it gives a good idea of what life was like in the past. Conclusion: I'm glad I live in these days and times:

Being a college town, Bozeman doesn't lack for cool places to eat, and it didn't take long to find a cafe specializing in organic dishes (Montana has more than kept up with the times). Fortified, it was back on the road for several hours of driving on Interstate 90, before deciding to call it a night in Billings, the largest city in the state. The historic downtown area where we would stay was pretty quiet on this Sunday night, but the Montana Brewing Company was still open for business, much to my appreciation. The worst thing about being the designated driver on a cross-country trek is the enforced sobriety that that entails (at least while behind the wheel):

We checked out of the hotel the following morning and said adieu to Billings, still a week away from our ultimate destination in northern Virginia. A short drive east is the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, where Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and 262 of his 7th Cavalry Regiment soldiers were wiped out in the famous battle that took place there on June 25-26, 1876. The excellent visitor center is yet more evidence that the National Park Service has got to be the most under appreciated organization of the federal government (after my present employer, of course). Outside, a ranger gave a dramatic description of what happened during the battle, with Last Stand Hill in the distance:

Last Stand Hill is marked with stones placed where soldiers' bodies were found after the battle, including Custer's. Around 40 men were killed on the hill, though the evidence indicates it wasn't the classic "last stand" that's been so often portrayed in film and literature. Custer and his men on Last Stand Hill were overwhelmed relatively quickly by the superior forces of Plains Indians; the remaining soldiers apparently died in a series of smaller "last stands" or were cut down as they tried to flee in panic. The battle most likely was over in less than an hour:

At the top of the hill stands an obelisk containing the names of the soldiers:

In recent years belated efforts have been made to show that there were two sides in the events that took place at Little Bighorn. The Indian Memorial stands adjacent to Last Stand Hill:

Little Bighorn is one of those places I wish we'd had more time to explore (the actual battlefield is quite large, and the fighting in which Custer and his men were wiped out was just one part of the overall battle), but we had a long drive to Mt. Rushmore ahead of us. Had our car been more reliable, I would've preferred driving along US 212 (the road pictured in the background in the photo below), but the lack of amenities on that stretch of highway meant it was better for us to continue along I-90:

The rest of the drive was uneventful, as we drove first through the stunningly beautiful emptiness of Wyoming...:

...and then entered South Dakota, just outside of Black Hills country:

We reached our hotel in Keystone, the Lodge at Mount Rushmore, while there was still some daylight left. The end of a long day on the road was celebrated with a meal of bison, elk and craft beer at a restaurant down the road:

To be continued...