Mt. Rushmore

Well, grab yourself a cup of coffee, beer or wine, because this could get lengthy as there is much to catch up on...

Let's go back to last Thursday when something quite remarkable happened on our trip. I GOT A BABYSITTER AND WENT OUT TO DINNER WITH TWO ADULTS! Tara secured her usual wonderful babysitter so that she, Brynn and I got to eat out at a gret local restaurant. It was so much fun, and the company was quite delightful. The kids were happy back at Tara's house watching a movie and singing Wicked with Amira. We said all our good-byes to our old and new Montana friends Thursday night, since we would be leaving early Friday morning. It was really wonderful to spend time with Tara and her family. They took good care of us, as we basically moved in for 4 nights.

Friday morning we took Brynn and Ri to the airport. They had an early flight, so we slept in the RV so I could drive with them still in bed. It was so much fun to have company this past week. It helped grately to have another adult to bounce off ideas and things. And the kids so enjoyed have cousin time with Riley.

After leaving Brynn and Ri at the airport, we made our way east towards Sheridan, WY. Now, it is hard not to tawlk like a cowboy when your in this part of the county. It is B-yute-TEE-ful, and 'dem chitlins are gettin purty tired of 'der Mom acting like crazzy cow wawlkin' circles in a yard with no egg-SIT. When Brynnie was here, the two of would go off, so much so that the kids had absolutley no idea what to make of us.

The highlight on Friday was litterally stumbling into the Battle of Little Bighorn. We spent over 2 hours at this national monument. There is a beautiful (or B-yute-TE-ful for ya'll cowboys) native american monument, and a memorial to Custer and all his men who died in the battle. Crazy Horse and Sittlng Bull were the main characters on the warrior side, and over 200 soldiers died. It is unclear how many indians died since their bodies were retreived by their individual tribes. There were a total of three tribes involved in the battle.

We moved on from Bighorn and got into Sheridan around dinner time. The lady at the KAO campground said we must go see the King's Ropes and Sadles in town. So we did. Now, I had to stop my cowboy tawlk because downtown Sheridan gave me the feeling that I could very well have my head blown clean off if I was to act up at all. So I kept my mouth shut like a new jar of jam with a tight lid. Jackson was in 7th heaven in the rope store. Lilly just pouted with jealousy bemoaning the fact she still doesn't have a real horse.

We left the rope store, got back to camp and I promptly ordered a real western dinner of Domino's pizza. Now there were two men in camp that kinda scared me. The first one was in the camp store when I registered. He went on and on, telling me he'd "bin all over lookin' for this fly SWAT-ar, and that he'd bin usin' his G-un to shoot dem flies, but that just left too many holes in his wall!" Okay, so I'm thinking to myslef, "is this guy playing my cowboy game with me???" No, he was for real, so I quite like a rabbit got out of that store and went back to the safety of my RV. Only that wasn't complete safe neither... Man number two comes strolling on over asking, "I seen you on the road. I recognize all dem bikes on the back of your rig. What part of California you from? Figures you from California and ordered Dominos." I say, "San Diego," and he says "well, what part? (real snotty). MIssion Valley, La Jolla, Ocean Beach??" I reply, "near SDSU (now go away)... You seem to know a lot about the area. Did you live there?" "Yes, I was stationed there." "Oh, where were you?" "WELL WHICH TIME ARE YOU TAWLKING ABOUT??" Now, it's pretty obvious to me that I 1) don't care to talk to him, and 2) HOW AM I TO KNOW YOU LIVED THERE MORE THAN ONCE?!!" So I told the kids that the bees are coming to eat their pizza so time to MOVE IN THE RV! The man left. Go figure.

We read some Tom Sawyer, showered, brush teeth and went to bed. During the night we were sarenaded by the lovely sounds of a train near by! And the train wistles lull (and wake) me all night long. One might think that in order to count the cars on a train, a game the kids play when we see them from the road, you would actually have to SEE the train. Not true. Last night I could count the cars just by hearing the click-click, click-click as each car rolled over the track.

Jack and I were up and ready to go by 7. We left the camp, and 'dem strange cowboys, with the girls still sleeping in their beds. Our destination for today, Mt. Rushmore! It was SO windy driving, that it definitley required both hands on the wheel, not one with a beer, for example.

Mt. Rushmore was AMAZING. We were all soo impressed. The memorial was built by 400 workers from 1927-1941. The four chosen presidents are Washington (for the Birth of our nation), Jeffereson (for the Expansion of our nation-Lousiana Purchase), T. Roosevelt (for the Conservation/Development of our nation), and Lincoln (for the Preservation of our nation). Dynamite was used to carve out about 90% of the memorial, and the sculptor was Gutzon Borglum. He worked on the carving for the last 14 years of his life. Each face is 60 feet tall, each eye is 11 feet wide, and the noses are 20 feet long, except Washington's which is 21 feet long.

We spent 3 hours at the park and are going back tonight to retire the colors and light the memorial. After Tuesday, they won't be doing that, so we didn't want to miss it.

So, you should be up to speed. One more thing-I made dinner in the RV and each time I get that pilot light lit (or empty the sewer tank), I feel like POWER WOMAN WHO CAN DO ANYTHING! I swear, each time I light that pilot, I half expect to blow us all up. So far, so good!

Jackson's favorite thing for today:
"My favorite thing about today was learning about the presidents and seeing a mountain goat."

Lilly's:
"My favorite thing today was seeing the rock faces, also called Mt. Rushmore! I also like seeing the mountain goat and making friendship bracelets. But what i didn't like about today was hurting my knee, sliding down a rail."

Sam's:
"My favorite thing was seeing Mt. Rushmore and making freindship bracelets."