As we left the grasslands and headed toward the center of South Dakota, the terrain quickly changed again to rolling hills and granite mountains. It was evening, so the picture isn't as bright as I'd like, but still beautiful.
Close to the hotel was an indoor water park, fed by a natural hot spring. The boys decided to "plunge" into the water while the girls toured a mammoth site.
At the water park, Eric was the only person in the Tarzan ring challenge to make it halfway across the water.
Early the next morning, we finally got to see Mount Rushmore! From a distance, it looks small, but still very detailed. Just in case you didn't know, the 4 presidents are: Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lincoln. It was constructed during WWII, at the time that FDR was president, which is why you can always remember it's Teddy on there, not FDR.
As we hiked along the Presidential trail, the little one spotted a billy goat grazing on a shrub. Once we stopped to take some pictures, undercover FBI started talking into their imaginary microphones alerting their partners of a distraction in the park. Hmm, I would think they'd focus on more threatening terrorists. But, I appreciate them keeping us safe.
One last picture of the presidents during the closest part of our trail. Here, we could actually see the spectacles on Teddy's eyes. The original plans were to carve full busts of each president, with their coats, arms, hands, etc. However, after seeing the labor, costs, and time involved in just the faces, he stopped there.
