Mount Rushbore

I know this might come off as disrespectful, but Mount Rushmore was underwhelming. Maybe because cowboy bagels were a bust (just closing as we walked in), and lunch was Papa Johns, there was a drop in mood. Maybe because the place is so much smaller than I had imagined it, but with enough crap to buy that you'd think the the faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln were there naturally. My guess is it was a dare. Someone said to Borglum, "Hey, I there's a giant rock face in South Dakota, and I bet you couldn't carve a memorial in it if your hands were made of a chisel and a mallet." Well look at that, he did, with the help if dynamite. What I am getting at with this rant is that the landscape leading up to the memorial seems to be worth more than the visual. They could have named a park after the presidents and it might have been a better tribute. But there were enough people there to gawk at the American curiousity. I overheard a few who admitted to not knowing who was carved up there, besides being past presidents. I would have forgiven the French woman, except she suggested Ben Franklin, who spent a load of time over there and probably appears in history lessons.

So we had a time there, then hit the road. Wyoming was up next, and I was unsure how to feel after the afternoon's disappointment.