South Dakota (yes it really exists)
MT. RUSHMORE- After spending the night in a cheesy town dedicated to the monument (slept at the White House Hotel), I drove up to see this famous site. There are no neon signs on the road saying, "Look here!" Just a mountain and as I scanned across it I was surprised by the pasty face of Abraham Lincoln. Later, as I studied the sight I couldn't decide whether the four icons looked like they were emerging from or being swallowed by the stone around them.
I have to admit they seemed smaller than I thought they would be. I guess it was one of those things that you build up to something and then it's never quite what you expected. Still though, it was actually a very impressive feat that many people spent 14 years of their lives creating for the ages to enjoy. I think an eyeball was still taller than I am so at an erosion rate of around an inch a century the monument should be around long enough for people to stand there asking, "Who is this Teddy Roosevelt fellow anyway?"
THE BADLANDS- Aptly named by the Native Americans, the Badlands, is a place of foreboding. The flat and normal (boring) plains are suddenly broken by a large gulf stretching out as far as the eye can see. This area is filled with jagged rocks that look like God squeezed them out of a can of Cheese Whiz or threw them in a blender and dripped them out randomly.
I went for a hike in this mess which ended up taking far longer than I thought as I climbed spires covered in caked mud and carefully crossed slopes covered with hidden and seemingly bottomless pits. I always thought those Native Americans were smart.
I have to admit they seemed smaller than I thought they would be. I guess it was one of those things that you build up to something and then it's never quite what you expected. Still though, it was actually a very impressive feat that many people spent 14 years of their lives creating for the ages to enjoy. I think an eyeball was still taller than I am so at an erosion rate of around an inch a century the monument should be around long enough for people to stand there asking, "Who is this Teddy Roosevelt fellow anyway?"
THE BADLANDS- Aptly named by the Native Americans, the Badlands, is a place of foreboding. The flat and normal (boring) plains are suddenly broken by a large gulf stretching out as far as the eye can see. This area is filled with jagged rocks that look like God squeezed them out of a can of Cheese Whiz or threw them in a blender and dripped them out randomly.
I went for a hike in this mess which ended up taking far longer than I thought as I climbed spires covered in caked mud and carefully crossed slopes covered with hidden and seemingly bottomless pits. I always thought those Native Americans were smart.
posted by Jonathan Hassell at 15:40
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