As we were heading to the amphitheater, it started to drizzle. We went in the gift shop to get out of the rain and picked up a few things. Jeff got a t-shirt, Henry got a puzzle (because he wanted something he could put in his room), and we got some pens for our collection. When we came out, it was still raining. I took Henry into another area to get our passports stamped, but it was the wrong place. Instead, we were in the cafe. So we picked up some water, cotton candy, and a fudge-alo. It's a buffalo cookie cutter filled with chocolate fudge. We just had to buy it.
When we got out, it was still raining. We found Jeff and Ruth hiding under an elevator overhang to stay dry. That's when I remembered that at a lower level, they have a little museum area where they show a movie. With about 40 minutes till the lighting ceremony began, we headed down to watch the movie.
Fortunately, when we got out, the rain had stopped. I ran into a nearby gift shop and got some plastic bags to sit on.
A ranger opens the ceremony by telling a story and talking about the Presidents. This time, the ranger talked about how he lived in Tucson when Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot, and how it affected him. He talked about the importance of citizens being able to communicate with their elected representatives, and how critical it is to participate in our government. It was very moving.
Then he showed a video on a big screen that talks about the creation of Mount Rushmore and the four Presidents on the mountain. Of course the Presidents are great, but the work involved in creating Mount Rushmore is also very interesting.
As the video is closing, the lights start to shine on the faces of the Presidents, and gradually get brighter. Then the ranger invited us to sing the National Anthem. To close the ceremony, all veterans are invited to come up on the stage to be recognized. It was a large group this time, and the applause went on for a long time.
This morning, we went back to Mount Rushmore to walk the Presidential Trail, which goes underneath the sculptures and goes by the sculptor's studio. As we were heading to the trail, we saw a sign that one of the men who worked on Mount Rushmore from 1938 to 1941 was in the gift shop signing copies of his book. Henry and I went in to meet him. He's a very nice man, and he was telling stories about his job. He worked mostly on Theodore Roosevelt, but also worked a bit on Lincoln. We learned that originally, there were only going to be three presidents on Mount Rushmore; Roosevelt was a later addition. The plan was to have Jefferson be on the left of Washington, but the rock wasn't suitable, so they blasted the work they did on him off the mountain and started again on Washington's right. Henry got the man's book, and he autographed it for him.  |
| Sculptor's Model of Mt. Rushmore. |
The Presidential Trail is great for giving you a different view of the Presidents. There are lots of stairs involved, so we got exercise too. The sculptor's studio is very interesting. We saw the original model for Mount Rushmore, which had more detail besides the heads. They must have originally planned to include some of the presidents' upper bodies, but for some reason, it never got done.
Having worked up an appetite on our stair climbing adventure, we stopped at the cafe and got some ice cream.
The only downside of our time there is that we're looking for license plates from Connecticut, Hawaii and Rhode Island to complete our license plate game app on my iPhone. We thought our best chances would be at Mount Rushmore, but we didn't find any of the three. Does no one leave Connecticut or Rhode Island?
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