mt rushmore

I can say with shame that I finally visited a place that is in my own backyard yet known to many around the world: Mt. Rushmore.



How can I claim something in South Dakota as my own backyard? When your father has an airplane, your backyard becomes a much larger place. It took us 1 and 1/2 hours to fly up there and a little longer to get home.

tim and i on the wing

We saw both the presidential monument and the unfinished monument to Crazy Horse.

crazy horse

a smaller version of the project

We even had time to stop in at an all wooden church (no nails) built by Norwegian immigrants, but it was closed for the season. It was apparent from the multi-level parking garages and long sidewalks in front of the ticket booths that this place gets very busy in the summer. For us, it was almost a ghost town, and we enjoyed the space and unobstructed views of the monuments and the lovely Black Hills.



I knew that moving back to the US with Paul would mean finally getting to see my own country, and as with so many other things, he's making this dream come true.