Mt Rushmore

This morning Bob and I drove out to Mt Rushmore which was about a half hour from our campground. It was a lovely drive into the Black Hills through the town of Keystone...

...and soon we could see the famous sculpture off in the distance.

There was a line of cars to get into the parking area. Visiting the monument is free, but it costs $10 ($5 if you are 62 or older) for a parking pass that is good until the end of the year.

It was a short walk to the Visitors Center.

We took a selfie in front of the Avenue of Flags, with a flag for every state in the Union.

And here they are: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln.

It was really very moving to see this magnificent sculpture in person. Here you can get an idea of scale, from a poster inside the Visitors Center.

I rather liked this photo of our reflection in the Visitors Center window, with Mt Rushmore behind us.

By the way, according to the National Park website, this is how Mt Rushmore got its name:

"Mount Rushmore is named after a New York City attorney. Charles E. Rushmore was sent out to this area in 1884 to check legal titles on properties. On his way back to Pine Camp he asked Bill Challis [a local resident and guide] the name of this mountain. Bill replied, "Never had a name but from now on we'll call it Rushmore." "

I still owed Bob a birthday meal, so after we left the monument we drove back to Rapid City and went to Kol, a very nice restaurant where we feasted on pizza (for Bob) and a mushroom/onion sandwich (for me.) Yum! Bob had a nice interaction with President William Howard Taft on the corner outside the restaurant.

Tomorrow we visit the Badlands!