Hey, Isn't This the Place...

So, today was the big pay-off for having the boys watch all of those movies (see my first-ever post). After breakfast at the "best hotel ever" (waffles & hot chocolate as usual for son #2), it took us about an hour to get to Devils Tower...

"Mom, isn't this where all of the dead cows and sheep are supposed to be?"

The boys picked up their Jr. Ranger booklets from the visitor center, then we went out to hike the Circle Trail around the base of the tower.

"Wait, isn't there supposed to be a landing strip here?"

Can you spot the climbers?

Here's a close-up...

How many prairiedogs are in the picture?

After we finished our visit to Devils Tower, R fixed sandwiches for everyone to eat in the car while we drove on towards South Dakota. I have to say, so far the boys have been pretty agreeable about the amount of time we've spent driving and having to eat on the run, which has made our trip go much more smoothly than it would have otherwise.

Two hours later, we arrived at Jewel Cave National Monument, where we had reserved tickets for a historic lantern cave tour.

For next 90 minutes or so we were underground, exploring Jewel Cave by oil lamp (or LED lantern for the kids), scrambling through narrow passages (Fat Man's Misery), climbing down small holes (Trapdoor), and ducking under low ceilings (Tall Man's Misery). What a cool experience!

I was proudly displaying my Illini spirit today -- turns out two other folks on the tour were also from Illinois, one guy was from Ottawa and had actually been to the Pumpkin Festival, and the other was an '88 U of I engineering grad. Os-kee-wow-wow! 

From there, it was just a short drive to our hotel in Custer, SD. We gave the boys the option of swimming at the hotel or seeing Mount Rushmore at night and they chose...

Good choice, boys!

We ended up eating dinner in the cafeteria (though the one where the scene in North by Northwest was filmed no longer exists) and stayed until the evening lighting program, which began at 9:00PM. The ranger gave a short talk on George Washington, followed by a brief video presentation about the four presidents depicted on Mt. Rushmore. At the end of the movie, they began to light the memorial, as the national anthem was sung by all...

  

They asked all service people present, both veteran and active duty, to come to the front of the amphitheater to be recognized during the retreat of the flag. It was quite moving to see just how many people there had given service to our country. A great way to end the day!