Monumental Mountains - Part I

"...to live in a country where you can take an ugly old mountain and put faces on it, faces of great Americans who did so much to make our country super great, well that makes me, Rebecca Leeman, proud to be an American."

-Becky Ann Leeman, "Drop Dead Gorgeous"

Well, I have a feeling after seeing the area around Mount Rushmore that the big old mountain that Becky speaks of was never ugly...

We just returned from vacation - one that rivals the best vacation I've ever been on, which was our southwest road trip from Vegas to the Grand Canyon to Sedona to Phoenix. We came home realizing that the one thing you absolutely must see if you live or visit North America is the Grand Canyon, and it piqued our interest in visiting other National Parks throughout the country. We knew somewhere down the road, Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills National Park would be another destination.

Flash forward six years, where we went from two to three in our family. We put off any big vacations for a while, because we wanted out daughter to be old enough to appreciate it and after several east coast road trips and a venture into Ohio last year, we felt she was ready for a "big" trip. Funny thing, though, we booked this whole trip about three weeks before our departure! We weren't sure we'd be able to swing it until the very last minute, but thanks to a few things going our way and cashing in some rewards points, it all worked out.

You may have noticed - we're movie buffs. Any chance we get, we try to work in some sort of movie reference, so as we tossed around the idea of visiting Mt Rushmore, I kept repeating the "big ugly mountain" quote from "Drop Dead Gorgeous". Sure, I was joking, but a part of me - maybe because I hated the Becky Leeman character and secretly snickered when (****SPOILER ALERT!!!) the gasoline soaked swan float she was riding on exploded - kind of felt a bit of animosity toward people that feel they have to make their mark on something pure and natural. I mean, I love my country - I bitch about it a lot less than most people I know, taking the good with the bad, voting every chance I get and trying to be a good citizen and do my part to make it work - but why oh why do you have to take a perfectly beautiful mountain and totally reshape it? Of course, I DID want to see it, and I knew I would ooh and aah over it, but pride and patriotism aside, I think that some of the most beautiful things about this country are the things we haven't touched.

One visit to the Grand Canyon instilled that in me.

Our first night in Hill City, SD, we took a little ride around town then past Mt Rushmore to get our first glimpse, and in a way I was relieved to see that it looked a lot smaller than I had imagined, so it didn't seem so "fake" to me. I was able to appreciate the man-made beauty it possesses.

Ok, so it's pretty. It's majestic. It makes you think about the foundations of this country, and some of the men who made it "super great". George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. When you think about the times they live during, their individual stories and their contributions to our country, you tend to forgive that a tiny piece of natural beauty was given up in their honor, so that we may be reminded of their history, and of ours.

You enter through the visitors' center, passing by columns adorned with each state's flag, as well as a few U.S Territories'. The sculpture seems kind of small at first.

At the base is an amphitheater, where people gather at night to watch a presentation as lights flicker on to illuminate the faces on the mountain.

What I didn't expect was how close you are able to get to the mountain. All around the base are trails you can walk to get different views of the mountain.

This one was taken from a chasm below the mountain, between two huge slabs of stone...

The walk goes on for quite a distance, some parts easy, some parts a little more challenging, but there are plenty of places to stop and rest.

It takes about an hour to walk all along the base of the mountain.

Finally you get back to your starting point and walk up a few flights of stairs to the vistors' center.

Turns out, George, Thomas, Teddy and Abe have a pretty decent view, too!

After leaving the monument, most people head back the way they came, ignoring the little sign that reads "George Washington Profile View" but we continued around the mountain and came upon this....

I left Mt. Rushmore without any feelings that the beauty of nature had been violated somehow. It's another must-see for anyone who makes it to this part of the country. And not just because of the happy, feel-good, patriotic emotions it brings, but as you travel throughout the area you also have to, as a citizen of the United States of America, take a long, hard look in the mirror and realize that in addition to all the greatness our forefathers brought to this land, there is a dark side that we should not forget, either....

Our accomplishments and our mistakes, both personal and as a nation, make us who we are, and neither should be forgotten.

To be continued.....

Sunday In My City: Back From Vacation

We arrived home from our awesome vacation yesterday, so for this week's Sunday In My City, hosted by Unknown Mami, I'm not going anywhere except maybe the home office so I can finish downloaded the gazillion photos we took!

We flew into Denver, Colorado on Saturday, August 21st and stayed two nights so we could have a full day in and around Denver. Really nice city - people are very friendly and the weather was in the 90's but none of that humidity that we tend to get in the northeast. Monday we made the 6-hour drive to South Dakota, through eastern Wyoming, and made it to our home base in Hill City, SD.

Tuesday we visited....

Mount Rushmore...here's George Washington's profile....

...and the better known view of Mount Rushmore...

Just a few minutes away is the Crazy Horse Monument (in progress) When complete, those four faces you see at Mount Rushmore? They will fit into that space behind Crazy Horse's head...

After spending a considerable amount of time at those two places, we headed to Custer State Park and drove the Needle Highway....wonder why they call it that?

Maybe because driving your rented Chevy Tahoe through this is kind of like threading a needle? :)

Custer State Park was beautiful!

We made some friends with the wildlife....

Wednesday is head to Wyoming Day to visit the first National Landmark, Devil's Tower....

I cannot aptly describe the coolness of this place....just amazing! This is sacred ground to Native Americans, and I can see why.

Thursday we headed out to the Badlands of South Dakota, stopping at the famous Wall Drug...

Then onto the mysterious, beautiful, rugged Badlands. You drive through Nationals Grasslands, vast stretches of flat prairie, then suddenly you are here....

Much like the Grand Canyon, you just can't capture it on film.

Friday we headed back to Denver - a long ride, but beautiful land.

And yesterday we arrived back in Boston.

Looking forward to sharing more with you! It was a great trip!

Thanks for stopping by and happy Sunday to you!

Be sure to stop by Unknown Mami's to share your Sunday with us!

Last Stop, Buffa.... I mean, Niagara Falls

We left Columbus and headed back to Cleveland so we could get one last look before moving on to our final stop before heading home, Buffalo, NY.

We chose Buffalo for two reasons:   Although having driven by Buffalo many times, neither of us had ever visited the city before, and it would give us a comfortable 6 hour drive home instead of trying to go straight through from Columbus.  We passed Cleveland and drove along Lake Erie, catching a glimpse of it occasionally.  We drove through a bit of Pennsylvania, and into upstate New York.  It's a peaceful and pretty drive, the scenery getting a bit more hilly, and apple orchards and vineyards dotting the landscape.

We made our way to Buffalo, and at first we were kind of excited.  It reminded me in many ways of Worcester, kind of a diamond in the rough as far as cities go.  We spotted some decent architecture - Steve nearly jumped out of the car when he saw a Louis Sullivan (his favorite architect) building, and we were there pretty early in the day - about 3:30 PM, plenty of time to go sightseeing.

Then things started to go wrong.  First, we got to our hotel and couldn't figure out where to park to unload the luggage.  Couldn't even find the entrance at first.  So we pulled over and Steve went walking around what we thought was the front of the building to get a luggage cart.  His first clue that this was not such a good idea was when he noticed the front of the hotel, housing a well-known chain restaurant, was locked up tighter than Fort Knox, big signs plastered all around "Restaurant Only Accessible From Inside Hotel".  Several homeless people approached him, looking for money.  Well, yeah, that can happen anywhere.  But every step he took into the hotel just felt wrong - then they tell him "parking available" meant three blocks away.  When we finally made our way into the hotel, the carpet was stained and dirty.  Our room was actually pretty decent, except for the Zenith television.  ("They don't even make Zenith tv's anymore!" I was told by one who knows his televisions).  Steve wasn't so sure about this place, so before I could tell him MY opinion, he headed down to the car to get the AAA books to see about going elsewhere.  His final straw was when the elevator got stuck.  My final straw had already been broken, when some woman waddled up to our car as I sat inside with my daughter, squatted and urinated on the sidewalk in front of us.

I'm pretty sympathetic.  I felt bad for her - your dignity has got to have flown the coop if you do something like that.   And even for Buffalo - like I said, we're from the Worcester area, and we see a side of Worcester that people passing through don't.  Your first impression of Worcester probably won't be a good one - it looks a bit unkempt, dirty, there is a homeless problem, a lot of urban youth pretending to be something they're not, and there are quite a few vacant businesses.  But there's also great architecture, history, museums, some truly beautiful neighborhoods, parks, friendly people, art, culture, ethnic diversity and some interesting businesses, including some of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at.  I didn't want to write off Buffalo based on a first impression, because I hate when people look down their noses at Worcester.

But apparently, a Zenith tv was too much to handle.

So we hit the road, and decided to head up to Niagara Falls in the hopes of finding a decent place to say.  And there, on the horizon, was a multi-colored beacon of hope.

The Seneca Casino.  We would have crossed over into Canada, but alas we don't have passports yet and you need 'em now.  So we called, booked a room (for $20 less than the one in Buffalo) and went inside.

We're not gamblers by any stretch, even if we had not had a four year old with us.  We just wanted a safe place to sleep, where we could grab a bite to eat.  The hotel portion turned out to be beautiful, really.  Nice woodwork, beautiful marble bath with a walk-in shower, nice furniture.  And a pretty decent view form the 22nd floor...

We decided to stretch our legs and walk down to the falls.  The actual city of Niagara Falls is all but dead - boarded up and empty.  But ten minutes from the hotel we arrived at a park that leads to the falls themselves.

It was clean and well-maintained, for the most part.

Lots of walking trails, and just past this statue....

You can start to hear the thunder of falling water nearby.  We walked a bit further, over a bridge and onto an island, and you start to see water, just starting to pick up speed.

If it weren't for the noise, getting louder and louder, you'd think you were at some little river.

But no....

And behind you is this...

It's amazing how close you can get.  In fact, Steve grabbed our girl's hand and wouldn't let go until we were far away from the edge.

And here's why!

Sheesh, I needed someone to hold my hand!  I get goosebumps thinking about standing there, that close to the falls.

Across the way (say hello to Canada!) was a cool sight - the old Niagara Power Station, below.

And we watched one of the Maid of The Mist tours at the base of the falls, and, in the upper right of this photo, shrouded in mist, the Cave of The Winds tourists also watching the Maid of The Mist tour below.

Either one could have been cool, but we were nervous about doing it with a little kid.

We headed back to the hotel, ate dinner where I had a wonderful piece of salmon and "ranch" mashed potatoes (had ranch dressing seasoning in them - they were good!).  We headed up to our room, and soon were all tucked into our beds.

Then at 10:00, we heard strange noises outside.  Car backfiring? Gunshots?  Nah! Sounded more like fireworks.

And it was!  We were treated to a nice fireworks display above the falls!  A perfect end to a (nearly) perfect vacation!

Planes Planes Everywhere....

Before our daughter came along, we did the majority of our traveling with our longtime friends, Mike and Tracy.  The four of us, aside from being good friends and having a lot in common, traveled very well together for two main reasons:

1.)  We all love food - as long as vacation included a few good meals, we were happy.

2.)  We made a point of having each one of us browse through the AAA guide or look on-line to pick one attraction or activity that each individual really wanted to see, and add it to the itinerary.

As a family, we do that now.  Each trip, of course, has to include child-friendly stops, but we also try to include something for Mom and something for Dad.

This was Dad's.

My husband, although never having served in any branch of the military, has a thing for military aircraft, so naturally we go to a lot of air shows (which in our neck of the woods, have been put on hold until 2012) and any type of air/space museum.  After checking off the two in Washington, DC two years ago, the next one on our list was the National Air Force Museum just outside of Dayton, OH.  

And, since we just happened to be in Ohio, we dedicated our last full day in Ohio to having Steve fulfill his dream.... 

 The museum is a huge facility, basically a couple of hangars, jam-packed with planes.  Now, I don't know a P-51 from a XB-70, so there's no way I can identify all of these planes for you, nor do I have enough space to post the 650 photos we took (we, meaning mostly hubby).  Plus, the lighting in most of the museum is shadowy, at best, so many of my photos are dark.  But as usual, even though my interest in aviation ends at "Oh, that looks cool", I found that if you open your mind and your eyes, chances are there's something to interest everyone.

The self-guided tour takes you chronologically through the history of military aviation.  Actually, even earlier than that, for Wilbur and Orville Wright lived in Ohio, so the first exhibits are models of their aircraft.  After that, it turns mostly military, starting with World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and all the way up through the Gulf Wars.  All along the way are volunteers, 99% of whom are veterans (who I just love talking to), eager to give you directions through the sprawling museum, advise you of upcoming tours or events, or just plain tell you a little of their own story.

This is one of those museums that, even if you have no real interest in the subject matter, you have to appreciate the sheer number of exhibits.  There was a "Women In Flight" exhibit, a Holocaust exhibit, a replica of the air traffic control tower at LAX, and naturally, a lot of educational exhibits based upon any war the U.S. was involved with that included aviation, including the Cold War years.

Did I mention there were a lot of planes?

One of the volunteer guides told us that they are slowing transitioning to making many of the plane exhibits a little more interesting...

There were several like this one, telling a story, and it really made it more interesting for us novices!

"Mommy?  Why is the Daddy yelling at the boy?"

"Because he crashed the airplane, honey."

They are even in the process of restoring the Memphis Belle, however she's not available for viewing right now.  If you happen to visit on a Friday, though, you can sign up for a tour to see the restoration in progress.  We were there on a Tuesday. :(

There were some interesting little touches, too. - like this quilt commemorating the USAF.  It was huge! And very beautiful.

Well into the WWII section, I happened across something that caught my interest.

During WWII, my Dad served in the Army, initially being sent to northern Africa in 1943, then transferring to the 988th Signal Corp and heading into in the China-Burma-India Theater.  Growing up, I never really knew what that part of the war was all about - my high school history teacher talked about Pearl Harbor and Nazi Germany, and that was it.  My Dad isn't the type of guy to talk about it, other than to share stories of the time a black panther ran across their path in the jungle,  or that his friend had died there, not in combat, but rather when his truck lost its brakes and plummeted over the edge of a cliff.   All I knew were those stories, and the fact that my Dad never ate rice again after coming home in 1945.

Oh!  And that General Joseph Stilwell once yelled at my Dad.  Cool, huh? :)

ANYWAY, I could - and should - dedicate a lengthy blog post to my Dad someday, but meanwhile, at the Air Force Museum I was happy to see this exhibit on CBI:

Now of course, this is an Air Force museum, not Army, but I thought these pictures were really neat!  Look at the elephant helping out!

My Dad mentioned seeing, of course, the panther, a tiger, and they used a lot of mules, also, to traverse the area that was not yet suited for trucks.   But no elephants.  Although, in books I've read it does mention that they were used a lot to clear the jungle.

It was neat seeing pictures of the places he had been, and getting a little more insight into what it must have been like for him there.

Meanwhile, Steve was skipping through the museum like a kid at Disney, because he had managed to snag the last three seats on the bus ride to "The Presidential and Experimental Hanger".   Well, ok, I thought to myself, it will be cool to see some of the Air Force One planes and experimental aircraft.  We eventually boarded a bus - with no air conditioning and windows that wouldn't open, to make the short trip to the active part of the base where these exhibits were.  I couldn't take any pictures outside because it is an active AFB, and photography is prohibited.  I have to admit, it was pretty cool!  You can - literally - reach out and touch these planes, while in the main museum they are safely tucked away behind barriers, surrounded by "Do Not Touch" signs.

Not so, here.

They even remind you to watch your head!

And here it is....the moment Steve had been waiting for.

This is the XB-70, one of the world's most exotic airplanes.

Aw heck, you read about it - I'll probably mess it up!

The only downside was it's crammed into such a small area, with so many other aircraft, that we couldn't get a good picture of it.  But Steve was happy to finally see it in real life.

In the other hanger was the Presidential exhibit, including the "Air Force One" planes of JFK, FDR and a small one belonging to Eisenhower.  You can actually walk through JFK's and FDR's  but everything's encased in plexiglass leaving a 17" passageway at some points.  Translation: If you tend to get claustrophobic, you might want to stay outside the plane!

We took the bus back to the main museum, shopped in the gift shop then headed back to Columbus.  On the way out, we noticed a little memorial park, and ironically the thing that caught my eye was this.

Again, not Army, but still nice to see another acknowledgement of China Burma India. :)

Oh, and the other great thing about this museum - it's free!