Mount Rushmore

Our first morning in Hill City was beautiful, so we decided to scout out the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. These 60-foot tall faces in granite are awe inspiring. It's really something to take in not just the work of these four American Presidents over the first 150 years of our country's history, but also the sheer scope of this magnificent work of art and craftsmanship. Truly awesome.

Paul and I took the Presidential Trail for some up close and personal looks at George and the boys.

Taking in the view of Jefferson, several people commented that we were looking up his nose. Well, we sure were!

One of the most fascinating features of Theodore Roosevelt's sculpture is his eyeglasses. Such fine detail in stone. And, that mustache looks very realistic!

The face of Abe Lincoln is serious and soulful. Look at those eyes. How did they do that?

An interesting spot on the trail is the Sculptor's Studio. Inside stands a model depicting the original design of the monument. As the ranger (who looks quite tiny here) explained, the carving ended prematurely when federal funding was cutoff in 1941.

The model in the foreground and the finished work in the background.

As we headed back toward Hill City we stopped at the Profile View turnout and caught this last glimpse of Washington.

Yesterday we made a return trip to the memorial with Paul's brother and his family. We enjoyed looking at all of the state and US territory flags on the Avenue of Flags.

We lined everybody up and shot 'em!

Here you see four Presidents and two Marys!

While we were in the Visitors Center the clouds opened up and the rain poured. The four gray faces looked rather tearful. A couple of them looked like they could use a Kleenex!

No matter what the weather, Mount Rushmore is one of those can't miss places to visit. As the South Dakotans say, these are truly Great Faces.