Monthly Archives: September 2021

Mount Rushmore in Route to Wyoming

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When planning our 350 mile remaining drive to see our close friends, we decided to sleep at Frontier Cabins so we could stop at Mount Rushmore.

This grand display of carved granite United States presidents did not disappoint! This sculpture was carved from 1927-1941 and removed over 420,000 tonnes of rock!

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum chose his presidents for many key reasons. George Washington was his first choice due to the foundation he laid for American democracy. Thomas Jefferson was chosen as he was a principal author of the Declaration of Independence and led the purchase of the Louisiana Territory.

Theodore Roosevelt was a good friend of Borglum and instrumental in constructing the Panama Canal and public lands for parks.

Abraham Lincoln was a favourite portrait subject of Borglum’s and devoted his presidency to ending the Civil War and issuing the Emancipation Proclamation (a first step towards abolishing slavery).

Our family enjoyed the perfectly still crisp mountain air whilst walking the President’s Trail; here we gained many great views and photos of this national landmark. Creation of this sculpture here in South Dakota was suggested by a state senator who desired a tourist attraction. 90% of the rock was blasted away by dynamite and the rest sculpted by chisel whilst the artist hung suspended by rope!

The drive in provided spectacular views of God’s nature and reminded us of the terrain we experienced when ministering in Colorado. We enjoy sighting elk, wild turkey, chipmunks, and more on our long drive.

We were blessed to stumble upon a delicious traditional American diner for lunch which serves all day breakfast; we knew it to be a good find when we walked in and all the locals had already arrived. 😉

On our final leg of our long drive we drove through the beautiful Big Horn National Park. We reached elevation of just over 9,500 feet above sea level! Ryan was comforted to drive once again along the valley floor. 😊

All this driving and sight seeing became even more worthwhile as we finally (after two days of driving and around 1,500 miles) arrived at our destination: our best friends’ Basin, Wyoming farm! It has been four years since we have seen them and we thank our Lord we have this opportunity to see each other in person! 🤗

A Very LONG Drive

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Living in England these past nine years, it is rare we have occasion to drive very far. However, our desire to see my best friend, spend time with her and her family, and see her new farm won out; thus today we began our approximately 1000 mile journey one way to Basin, Wyoming from Kansas City, Missouri. Today’s adventures involved stopping for lunch at Chick-Fil-A in Sioux City, Iowa. They have delicious chicken, a Christian ethos (even playing worship music in the background), and a clean place to stop for a stretch.

We piled back into our car and drove on listening to books on CD, the kids watching a movie, and I crocheted to pass the time. By mid-afternoon we paused for a walk at The Corn Palace. This was an impressive site to behold!

Each year The Corn Palace (the only one of its kind) has a different theme since the corn only lasts so long. Annually a new design takes place costing an estimated $130,000 for the dried corn to be nailed in place! The kids enjoyed pressing some more pennies and even finding a display folder in which to place their collection.🤗 We, of course, had to eat some popcorn from The Corn Palace because Ryan LOVES his popcorn! He has made it at least once weekly from scratch for most of our 19 years of marriage! Delicious!

When driving on we drove by a movie set location for “Dances with Wolves” entitled 1880 Town. Next we skirted the northern edge of the Badlands where there are huge bluffs upon which nothing grows. We thought staying on highway 90 was for the best lest we get stuck in the Badlands overnight. 😬

Our final leg of today’s journey resulted in visiting the infamous Wall Drug Store. This string of shops has been featured on telly and in People magazine, The Smithsonian, and many various other publications.

We stopped here to enjoy a tasty buffalo burger, but first we just had to see all the sights Wall Drug had to offer. This includes a rather large jackalope, bison, T-Rex, and much more! One carved statue sits upon the ashes of a campfire made by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. 😯 Wall even still serves coffee for 5 cents; although I am not sure how tasty it is! There is even a beautiful little chapel inside! There is SO much to see and do, one can see why these stops are termed “tourist traps”. 😄

We are thankful for The Lord bringing us safely (especially since we began our day driving in pouring rain) thus far to retire for the night at beautiful Frontier Cabins!