Rock / Face

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

OK, Gonna try to keep it snappy today so no mention of complimentary breakfast today (which was rubbish... no butter for the toast. Sheesh!)

Road Trip Day 35

There are certain iconic images that I, and I suspect many people, associate with the USA. Empire State Building, Grand Canyon, The White House, Las Vegas and Mount Rushmore. I could have chosen many from a long list, but those are some classic examples and I crossed the last of those off today.

Not to say I am "finished" now, there's Chicago, Niagara, Baseball and... well, another 30 days of stuff to go.

On the Way

I didn't make straight for Mount Rushmore though, I had several things to do on the way... I plan this stuff pretty well in my humble opinion.

That said, the first stop was unplanned and only really on account of my sat-nav mistakenly thinking I could drive through someone's back yard.

I was just going to leave Hot Springs but the misdirection put me right outside their museum, so I thought why the heck not, especially as it was in a the former school and built of the same sandstone as most of the rest of the older parts of Hot Springs

The lady who collected my $5 looked surprised to see anyone. I think tourists are getting thin on the ground now we've passed mid-September. Even rarer are sprightly English tourists who have been on holiday for two months.

We chatted for a while then I looked around the three floors of assorted "Stuff". Less of a museum and more of a giant time-capsule the former classrooms were themed by music, glass, tools, beds and such. I dare say a good antique dealer would have had a great time and I enjoyed wandering round. It felt very "English" in a way. I could easily have been in Norfolk or Hartlepool.

Of the packed rooms, I found the 50 years worth of original High School Graduation photos brilliant. It seems that everyone who graduated in 1947 was at least 45 years old. The 80's were genius too including a guy whose name I really should have noted down, who chose to have his graduation photo done in full Cowboy regalia, leaning on a truck full of hay bales.

That's South Dakota for ya... and so is this cracking exhibit! Conjoined claves, joined at the brisket. The didn't thrive, bless them.

Windy

Did you think I had run out of National Parks? Not likely. Today's first proper stop wasat Wind Cave National Park which, despite the name, is more than just the extensive caves. Above ground is some of the little remaining Prairie land in the USA and I saw some more Bison and, for the first time properly, Pronghorn Deer. These are very pretty creatures indeed with little curly horns and the grace that Deer seem to carry themselves with. One even had the decency to prance across the road at a safe distance ahead of me in the most delightfully balletic manner.

The main attraction though, unsurprisingly is the network of caves. The park's claims to fame is that the caves are the most complex in the world, based on how many twists, turns and leads (unexplored passages leading off from the mapped caves) it has. It is also the 4th longest set of caves with 136 miles mapped so far.

Our tour was the less energetic, paved walkway type with the emphasis on the unique "boxwork" structures formed by calcite filling cracks which had been opened up by sitting groundwater. The caves do not have the big bang impact of Carlsbad Caverns, but the intimacy of the Ranger guided tour and small group I was in gave them charm.

Size Doesn't Matter

I had wanted to see Mount Rushmore before I saw my next location, but it made more sense on the map to go to Crazy Horse Monument first.

Crazy Horse is, essentially, the vision of one man. Asked by an Indian Chief to create monumental sculpture to "...prove to the white man that Indians have heroes too..." he set about the task of turning an entire mountain into Crazy Horse, on horseback, pointing into the distance.

That was about 60 years ago. So far there is a face, a bit that shows where the horse's head will be and a hole cut to start the arm off.

The original artist died in the 1980's and work since has been carried on by his wife and 10 children. They had so many kids deliberately to increase the workforce... seriously! And it's not through lack of efforts that the work is still in the relatively early stages, it's the scale that is the problem. In the picture above, the spec I have arrowed is a mechanical digger.

Now, here's my issue with the sculpture. If a mining company were to effectively destroy an entire mountain there would be outcry. However, this grandiose statement is clearly located as close as conveniently possible to Mount Rushmore to deliberately stick it to the man. Now that sentiment is understandable given the way the natives of the North American continent were treated over the years, but his lacks, well, it lacks "class".

Something less vast, but elegant, accessible and that could be finished within reasonable time-scale might have been better. Apart from anything else, the site has to be viewed from so far away that you lose all sense of scale. Still, that's just my two-cents and please do not interpret it as anything other than a critique of this particular endeavour.

Here's the working model that it is intended to look like when completed.

The Main Attraction

So, to where I began, the icon that is Mount Rushmore. My approach from the west meant I travelled through some great countryside, and through mountain which make you understand why at least two sets of people have decided to carve people into them. The soft shaped outcrops and bluffs do look a little like heads and faces.

I got a sneak preview of the main event with a side-on of George Washington.

I was fortunate to catch a very enthusiastic Ranger leading a tour of the monument and enjoyed the extra insight that these expects so often give. As for the monument itself, it was everything I had wanted it to be. Four giant faces carved into a mountain. The original purpose was to attract tourists to the region, but this rather materialistic motive was turned into a more poignant and lasting fixture by the artist.

I'm very pleased to have seen it for myself.

Welcome (Back) to Wyoming, You Guys!

I'm back in Wyoming tonight. Right up in the north-east corner. Why?

Stay tuned.

Oh, and it's not just because I wanted a better road sign than the little one in Yellowstone.

Now, I must go as I want a shower before I watch a movie on the DVD player I have borrowed from reception here.

Goodnight.

Stats - Day Sixty-One

Distance travelled - 146 miles - Hot Springs, SD to a mystery location in Wyoming via Wind Cave, Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore.

State count - 24 + DC + B.C.

Room numbers stayed in - 203, 1, 148, 212, 205, 210, 246, 118, 3, 145, 229, 111, 207, 206, 40, 605, "Cowboy", 35, 11, 18, 262, 216, 208, 430, 216, 59, 226