I see dead presidents!

Mount Rushmore, not an easy monument to get to, not even on a good travel day, but we made it there, twice! Our first encounter was our worst nightmare - thick fog, snow, rain, ice. The presidents were no where to be seen, heck the mountain was no where to be seen. We took a few photos - in jest - and moved on. Telling ourselves, 'we didn't come all this way for nothing" - we trekked up to see Mount Rushmore the next day, with thoughts of clear views. The drive was much like the day before, thick fog, drizzle. In the car we had a lot of sad campers, until we saw the stone cold heads!!!! Screams erupted from the car, excitement flowed out of it as a footrace to the monument was in full force. Positivity prevailed!

We took a 'child-like' approach to this monument, here are the A-B-C's of Mount Rushmore: A. Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the side of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. B. Doane Robinson, a local, came up with the idea for Mount Rushmore in 1923 to increase tourism in South Dakota. C. Dutch-American sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, started the Mount Rushmore project. In 1941 he died and his son, Lincoln Borglum, continued the work and it was completed later that year. D. The Memorial is of 4 American Presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln - representing the first 130 years of American history. E. Carving of Mount Rushmore started on October 4, 1927, and finished 14 years later on October 31, 1941. F. 400 workers helped to sculpt Mount Rushmore climbing 506 steps to its top each day - there were no fatalities. G. Mount Rushmore is 5,725 ft. The monument is 60 foot high. Each of the President's heads are the height of a six-story building, their eyes are 11 ft across, their noses are 20 ft long and their mouths 18 ft wide. H. The original plan was to carve from head to waist, but the money ran out. The whole project cost US $989,992.32. I. Dynamite was used to carve Mount Rushmore, and then 'honeycombing'. J. In the beginning, they started with Thomas Jefferson, but it was decided that this wasn't working so Jefferson's face was dynamited off and his face carved on the opposite side of Washington's. K. A cave called the 'Hall of Records' sits behind the monument and contains a vault of 16 porcelain enamel panels with text of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, biographies of the 4 presidents and Borglum, and history of the U.S. L. If you take the 'Presidential Trail' you can see many different views of the monument, up close. You can also visit the sculpture's studio and get a view of the Black Hills in the distance.