Adventures of Johnny United: Does Mount Rushmore Exist?

Dakota Trip - Day 4 - Saturday, June 7th

Although the stay in South Dakota was very comfortable (1-King & 2-Double Beds) for the eight of us, we couldn't wait to get up to go see Mount Rushmore. It is a three-hour one-way drive from the hotel. On the way there, we kept on seeing this billboard sign that advertises "Wall Drug." Is it just me or the sign keeps on popping up what appears to be every five-minutes for over an hour drive. What an effective advertising campaign! We stopped in to take a potty break and bought some souvenirs. Finally, at the end of the drive, near the entrance of the park, I thought I saw the president heads! I wanted to pull over and take pictures, but the family urged me on: "Come on dad, we'll get a better shot inside the park!"

Inside the park, there were thousands of people and bus loads of people there already. And it's only around 10 AM. As we proceeded, we took pictures of just about everything. Eventually, we came to the concrete wall at the end where the presidents heads are supposed to be. But where did it go? We waited and waited, but the heads never showed up. We were told by other tourists that this is the second day where the FOG covered up the heads!?!

We walked around and hiked the trails hoping the fog to clear and... it did for a few seconds :-( We didn't have our camera ready :-(

This reminded me of the many times that I went fishing in the American River in California with the Pro. We would sit in the drift boat waiting and anticipating for a bite. And some days all we got were a couple of grabs (fish tasting our lures or baits and then quickly spitting it out), but no fish on. On those days, it's easy to say we are only imagining the grabs and there are no fish in the river! Now, I just renew my commitment that there are many fish in the river, but the Son has not shown and told us which side of the boat to cast our nets, or in our case, to wet our lines. What lesson can I learn from this? Be ready, the fish are there, but when the going is tough, all you got is a few seconds to catch one :-)

"I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!"

Never seen so many silos in my life!

Are we excited yet?

I know we're near the heads...

Outta my way people...

Are you kidding me? Is this make believe?

It's really behind us. Now close your eyes... Imagine!

God bless these workers who made it happen.

Told you guys the heads are there. See?

President Jefferson just became our favorite president!

The original plan was to also include the torsos.

Inside the artists' studio

Hey, that looks like a coke machine :-)

After hanging around Mount Rushmore for several hours to see the heads for a couple of seconds, we were informed by other tourists who just got back from the Crazy Horse site, not to bother going there. Thus, we opted for Badlands instead. We were not disappointed! What a fantastic site. We drove through about 30 miles of awesome mountain structures with vivid, colorful dirt formation. God bless America!