Postcard from The USA – Mount Rushmore

Between 1927 and 1941 the splendidly named sculptor John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum designed and supervised the colossal carvings to represent the first one hundred and fifty years of American history.

These days there would almost certainly be a public poll to choose the subjects but in 1927 this was entirely down to Borglum who chose George Washington to represent the birth of the United States, Thomas Jefferson the growth of the United States,  Abraham Lincoln the preservation of the United States and Theodore Roosevelt the development of the United States.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Wall Drug Store, South Dakota

All along Interstate 90 there were hundreds of billboards advertising the Wall Drug Store and I was beginning to wonder what this was all about when we reached the town of Wall and all was revealed.

‘The Wall’ is actually a rugged topographical strip a half mile to three miles wide and nine miles long with a succession of tinted spires, ridges and twisted gullies which separates the lower prairie from the upper and from which the name of the town of Wall, South Dakota is derived.

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Coach Trip – USA National Parks, Wyoming, Deadwood and Cody

After another good nights sleep and a hearty breakfast we packed our bags and loaded them onto the coach because it was time to move on from Rapid City and start going west.  Today we were going to travel through some of the old wild-west towns that previously I had only seen in movies or on the TV, towns with famous names like Mule Creek, Buffalo, Custer and Sundance.  Also along the route was the unfortunately named town of Gayville but I don’t remember that featuring prominently in any John Wayne films.

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Coach Trip – USA National Parks, Mount Rushmore

We didn’t get to see the best of the Quality Inn, to enjoy the swimming pool or the bars because there simply wasn’t enough time and in the morning after our first generous American breakfast in the dining room we met our tour guide and were pretty quickly loaded back on to the bus and sped away from the city on Interstate 90 and then Highway 16 towards the famous Black Hills of Dakota.

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