Mount Rushmore

We arrived in Keystone, South Dakota, on Sunday afternoon, and checked in at the Motel / RV Park where Blue Bird friends John and Aleda are working for the summer. We could see Mount Rushmore from the parking lot, had read about the evening illumination, so decided to head over there on Sunday evening.

We got to the memorial at about 6pm - so had a little over an hour to see the exhibits before the evening show started with music at 7:30pm before the program and illumination.

I saw this sign about Thomas Jefferson and ice cream as we were coming into the memorial... I didn't know that TJ had a recipe for ice cream!

I can't exactly read it... but found this online: https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/ice-cream

Another view of the monument

We went inside the visitor center...

A photo (of a photo) showing the model in the sculptor's studio and the completion outside the window.

Before the mountain was carved...

A picture of the mountain as it existed before it was carved.

A bit of a cost overrun...

A model showing how the design was transferred from the studio to the mountain. Borglum had a 1/12 scale model of what the completed project was to look like, so he took measurements from a fixed point on the top of the head and measured the angle and inches with a plumb line, and that could be converted to the same angle and feet (1 inch -> 1 foot) with a plumb line on the top of the mountain.

As the sun was setting, the evening event was about to start.

After a video and the illumination of the monument, the ranger asked that all current military, veterans, and a representative from family of anyone who had lost a family member in the military come down onto the stage. A group were selected and they lowered the flag for the evening. It was quite moving.

The monument illuminated. It was interesting how much less impressive the carvings were with the artificial light as compared to daylight - they lose a lot of their realism, the effects of shadow on the faces, especially the eyes, it seemed to me.

We were glad to be able to take advantage of staying so close to the memorial to be able to visit it at night. It gets *really* dark around here at night, so just needing to drive a couple of miles to get back to Miss Doozie was very appealing!