Wow...where to start?
Verndale, MN...you complete me! Okay a little sappy & cheesy, but it feels true.
We drove past my old houses...a little stalker-ish, but I needed to refresh my family's historical perceptions of me. I mean Bob lives where most of his childhood memories were created, I don't. So we drove to Hewitt & Deer Creek & Wrightstown, just to name a few. A lot of Cris B. Bacon research has now been done & a ton more to wade thru.
After a nap & some visiting with the folks in St. Jo we left for an all-night drive. Instead of the largest ball of twine we voted for Mt. Rushmore on our excursion back. We were all going to view it for the 1st time. Being the patriotic family we are, we just had to go...even if it meant that Bob was going to drive all night, we would miss showers, & chose being cramped in a Dodge Caliber instead of stretching out on hotel sheets. As I drove the last leg on that long road to the site, I was amazed at the vehicles I saw in rural South Dakota at 8AM on a Monday morning. Were they all really going to the same locale I was? Ya betcha. (Just a little MN humor.) I still can't find the words to express exactly how I felt upon catching that first glimpse of the monument. I know when we left the park I was so very proud to be an American & humbled. In the giftshop, the author of a very detailed book about Mt. Rushmore was sitting alone at a small table. When I approached him & asked if he had written the book in front of him, he gave me the best tour I could have ever asked for. As he flipped thru the pages he pointed to various photos & gave me a greater insight to the construction of the monument & what the artist's intent had been. Perseverence in the face of setback ad infinitum. Amazing and inspirational. It's not like he could just hide the canvas in the closet if it didn't turn out or paint over it. This is a mountain of rock & everyone knew he was sculpting it. He kept hitting bad rock, but just adjusted to it. Hmmm, I'm sure there is a lesson here.
As always we were so glad to be home in our own beds after a week away. But now we want to go again next year...want to join us?
This week I will put up a slide show of my fav vacate pics!
Ciao,
Trish
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