Mount Rushmore and The Train

Today was the day!  The entire reason we made the drive to South Dakota - Mount Rushmore!  As we drove through the beautiful Black Hills, the kids got more and more excited to see the mountain.  I wasn't completely paying attention until Guard yelled, "the heads!, the heads!"  I looked up and sure enough, there was Mount Rushmore in the distance.  I know it sounds weird, but it looked smaller than I thought it would be!

 After going through the jungle of parking our huge motor home, we walked through the corridor of flags and found Utah at the end.  By that time, the kids were just too excited to get up close, so we didn't stay too long looking around.  Everybody was excited to get their pictures taken with the heads, except Enoch, who was trying to figure out where the lake was so he could find the treasure!

After getting our fill our pictures, we went on the short hike around the base of the mountain.  It was very fun and informative.  The kids were trying to figure out where National Treasure was filmed and I was just trying to keep track of the kids.

There is a great visitor center at the monument and it was so interesting to learn of the construction of Mount Rushmore.  It was amazing!  The kids loved it and we were all very impressed.
But, once you have seen it, you've seen it.  The kids were excited to get to our next adventure - the train ride!  We booked tickets on the 1880 Train Ride round-trip from Keystone to Hill City and back.  It was a great old steam train.  Guard could hardly contain himself.

We found some seats, got comfy, and half of us fell asleep through the gorgeous scenery.

Once the kids caught a small cat nap, they were up and enjoying the train again.  It was a lot of fun and we traveled through absolutely beautiful country.

We ended the very fun day back at Mount Rushmore for the lightening ceremony.  It was fantastic!  They showed a short movie about America, and then, my favorite part, they invited all current and former military onto the stage.  Every person stated their name and what branch of service they were with.  It was very cool.  Then, they lighted the monument for the night.  It was a great way to end a very great day.