Using images of four Presidents to signify key aspects of our country's history - birth (Washington), expansion (Louisiana Purchase,
Jefferson), preservation (Civil War, Lincoln) and development (Panama Canal, Roosevelt), this memorial represents a shrine to
freedom, patriotism and democracy.
July, 2011
Jefferson), preservation (Civil War, Lincoln) and development (Panama Canal, Roosevelt), this memorial represents a shrine to
freedom, patriotism and democracy.
July, 2011
Each face is 60 feet tall and the eyes
are 11 feet wide.
are 11 feet wide.
Washington's nose is 21 feet long.
A private nonprofit 62-year work in
progress effort to create the competing
Crazy Horse Memorial. When finished it
will be the world's largest sculpture.
progress effort to create the competing
Crazy Horse Memorial. When finished it
will be the world's largest sculpture.
Wall Drug has done a thriving tourist trade since 1936 when the owners put up signs along the highway offering free ice water.
The idea expanded across the West, and during WW II GI's plastered advertising signs all over Europe. Today, it's a 76,000
square foot western-themed experience - restaurants, general merchandise, apparel, gifts - even stuffed & mounted jackalopes!
The idea expanded across the West, and during WW II GI's plastered advertising signs all over Europe. Today, it's a 76,000
square foot western-themed experience - restaurants, general merchandise, apparel, gifts - even stuffed & mounted jackalopes!
The eerie desolation of Badlands
National Park is an awe-inspiring sight
after miles of gentle, rolling South
Dakota prairie.
National Park is an awe-inspiring sight
after miles of gentle, rolling South
Dakota prairie.
Formed over 14 million years ago from silt and sediment washing down from the
Black Hills, the Badlands were sculpted into their present craggy form by harsh sun
and powerful winds.
Black Hills, the Badlands were sculpted into their present craggy form by harsh sun
and powerful winds.
Frank Lloyd Wright said visiting here gave him "an indescribable sense of mysterious elsewhere.... An endless supernatural
world more spiritual than earth but created out of it."
world more spiritual than earth but created out of it."
Erosive forces have eaten into the soft
soil of Badlands National Park
soil of Badlands National Park
and carved out an alien landscape
of cones, ridges, gorges, gulches,
pinnacles, and precipices
of cones, ridges, gorges, gulches,
pinnacles, and precipices
with some formations more than 1,000
feet high, all painted in the shifting
colors of layered mineral deposits.
feet high, all painted in the shifting
colors of layered mineral deposits.
The interplay of light and shadow is
poetic in a mysterious and desolate way.
poetic in a mysterious and desolate way.
Visitors can wander through the landscape at will. The park is seldom crowded and provides a real sense of adventure.
We scheduled less than a full day here and really regretted not getting to stay longer to explore this fascinating environment.
July, 2011
July, 2011
The apparent emptiness of the area is full of traces of ancient life. The Park contains some of the world's richest fossil beds.
Above all you experience quiet, the near absence of human noise.
Above all you experience quiet, the near absence of human noise.
The Mammoth Site, Hot Spring, SD.
July, 2011
July, 2011
Discovered during excavation for a
housing development in 1974, it's the
world's largest Columbian mammoth
exhibit.
housing development in 1974, it's the
world's largest Columbian mammoth
exhibit.
The bones are displayed as they were
uncovered.
uncovered.
59 mammoths have been identified, along with the remains of a giant short-faced bear, camel, llama, prairie dogs, wolves, fish
and numerous invertebrates.
and numerous invertebrates.