<Sending this from a Subway in Custer, SD. There is no connection of any kind in the park and the park is B_I_G; 75,000 acres, the roads are horrific for a motorhome so it takes an hour to drive out from where I'm camped at Center Lake. Supposed to hit near 90 today!.>
The drive to Rushmore was, um , exciting. One of the roads is called Terror Trail because of the curves and steep slopes. I was concerned when I got near Rushmore I hit a grade where my trusty Sunrader in first gear, floored could barely make 10 mph. But wow, when you get that first look of the monument....
But it did make it, and when I pulled into the rv parking lot guess what was there?! Another little Toyota motorhome. Hot, 80's and sunny. The ice cream concession did a booming business even at $5.50 a cone. The statues are pretty breathtaking Just Washington's head is bigger than the Sphinx in Egypt! The heads are scaled to men 465 feet high.
Borglum was 57 when he started them and it took 14 years. 90% of the rock was removed by dynamite. The workers got so good they could blast within 3" of what he wanted removed. Not any fatalities. He wanted a statue larger than the Egyptians or Romans. He chose the hardest rock he could find. In 10,000 years the wind and rain will have eroded it by 1/10 of an inch.
His studio is there along with his model which is different from the monument. He had problems and needed to redo Jefferson from Washington's left to his right when he found there wouldn't be enough mountain to do him. A bad blast on Teddy caused that to be redone which is why he is back in so far.
The use GE Silicone Sealant to repair any cracks that show!
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