Miles 1860-2130: Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, and Drive to Casper
This morning, we had some time to kill, so we had breakfast and chilled some while Mom and Dad packed up. After we checked out, we ‘snuck’ back into the game room for a family game of pool, kids vs. adults. I played terribly and only hit in one ball. We lost, but actually not bad because Jackson played pretty well. We started driving to Mount Rushmore. When we got in view, I was surprised; it only took up about a third of the mountain. It was very detailed though. At the gift shop, we got stickers for our trunks and the car-top carrier and pins. I think Jackson and I, or at least me, are going to start collecting pins at any museums or national monuments we go to. We walked down to get closer to the mountain, and you could barely see Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. I know Hamilton died out a while back, but that was the one of my only sources of information on Thomas Jefferson. It only displays him in a negative light, but he was a good president. During his presidency, it was banned for slaves to be imported from Africa. We left Rushmore for Custer State Park, which was suggested by Mr. Lalonde (thank you!!) as a great place to see wildlife, especially buffalo/bison. I always thought that those were two different species, but they’re the same thing; buffalo are just in Africa and Asia, while bison are in North and South America. There were some really pretty views off cliffs. They’re called the Black Hills and my dad was like “If these are hills, what are the Appalachians?”. Jackson: “Speed bumps.”. We decided to do the Wildlife Loop, where you’re supposed to see lots of wildlife (odd right?). We didn’t see anything until about halfway through, where we came across our first of three herds of buffalo. They were humongous. We actually got pretty close once, about 75 yards. We saw a few pronghorns (antelope-like), but that was basically it. After we got out of the mountains, it looked basically the same as it did before them: flat and prairie like. When we got to the hotel in Casper, it was huge: five hot tubs and an indoor pool. We went to the pool, got pizza for dinner, and got in the hot tub right before bed.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”