My Windows Are Rolled Down: Big Rocks and Big Faces

The drive through the mid-west is long. Long and flat. Long, flat and boring. Living in the Northeast, all the states are relatively small and scenic. Driving down I-90W is green and cow-ridden.

That is until you cross the Missouri River. Then, you start seeing elevation and evolution!

Over 300 miles on one highway can get boring, but eventually I saw signs for the Badlands. Eventually, I could see them in the distance. When the turn-off came for my first national park, I saw something that was much more urgent. A prairie dog farm. I can now confirm that the critter I saw in Sioux Falls was just a chipmunk. An adorable chipmunk, but just a chipmunk. These are the real deal and they are stinkin' adorable. If I could have taken one with me, I definitely would have. Prairie dogs of all ages scrambled around their pen, running from children trying to grab them and running to people who threw peanuts at them. I walked carefully as to not fall in one of their burrows and took as many pictures as possible.

After prying myself away from their wagging tails, I drove a little further down the road and was welcomed to the Badlands National Park. An amazing sight, I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

About an hour and a half away from Rapid City, I continued down I-90W to get to me next stop. Tucked between Black Hills Forest and Custer National Park is the Crazy Horse Memorial. The welcome center had a small Native American Museum, mostly about the Lakota, the tribe which Crazy Horse was a part of. The monument has already been under construction for 60 years and is not even remotely close to being finished. I guess I'll just have to come back in another 60 years and see how far they've gotten.

Next stop, more big faces. As opposed to Crazy Horse's ongoing 60+ year construction, Mount Rushmore only took 14 years to carve. It doesn't seem like they rushed though; the monument was just as breathtaking as if it had taken 60 years. Walking up the steps and down the flagged hallway towards four of our nations presidents was exhilarating. Each pillar had the flags of each state and their date of admittance into the Union carved into the marble facade. Of course, I did a little representing for Connecticut.