Tag Archives: Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

On Thursday September 23, 2021 we drove from Sheridan Wyoming and entered South Dakota on our Land That We Love Tour. We approached the Memorial on the south side through Custer City on Highway 16. As we wound our way up the road to get to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial we started to see many interesting rock formations on the mountain sides.

We entered the Memorial and found a parking spot and walked up some steps to the main entrance.

No fee to walk in and the only fee we paid was $5.00 for our parking spot since we are seniors, $10.00 if you aren’t a senior.

Getting closer to the main attraction.

All the states are represented with their state flag and a plaque with the year they were admitted into the Union.

To prove I was there.

We found different vantage spots to zoom in for a closer view.

To read the history of the making of this monument click HERE.

This last shot was on our way out and down to Rapid City, South Dakota to look for a spot to enjoy some Linner (Linner is the meal we have that combines lunch and dinner later in the afternoon). On this route you go through Keystone which looked like a fun spot to explore but we had reached our limit so we just kept driving the 40 minutes to get to downtown Rapid City. More about Rapid City and where we ended up eating in a future post.

Back to the present we find ourselves in the last week of October 2021. We’ve had some powerful winds and leaves are falling and blowing around to find a resting spot. Hope all is well in your corner.

Retired Benefits Hodgepodge

It’s Wednesday and time to answer the questions Jo From This Side of the Pond is asking.

1. Do you (or did you used to) watch talk shows? Which are or were your favorite? 

I do not watch talk shows and haven’t for probably 40 years now. The closest thing to a talk show that I enjoy would be something like Rachel Ray or other cooking shows like that which I don’t watch now, either. I do not watch TV during the daytime hours.

2. Would you describe yourself as resilient? If so what do you think makes you that way? If you answered no explain why? 

As far as my physical body is concerned I’m at an age where I don’t bounce back as easily as I once did.  Mentally and practically I have gained resilience from all the life experiences I’ve been afforded along the way these 70 years. Having and raising children helps to make you resilient! Knowing you have a future Hope makes the struggles easier to walk through and recover from.

3. What parts of life have surprised you the most? Explain. 

Surprised and grieved that friends who we used to walk side by side with following Jesus have walked away.

4. Why do you live where you live? 

When we decided to sell our home on the Westside of the mountains in Washington State and retire we knew we couldn’t afford to live in the Seattle area. Our middle son and our daughter-in-law were well established in the northeastern part of the state with no desire to move away from that area so we knew this part of the state would be a good option for us to consider. Throw in the fact that our two grandchildren belong to this son and daughter in law and that pushed the scales for us to make the choice. Cost of living, cost of housing, country living, and family were all good things to sway our decision. Our other kids are in a position to travel easily and choose to visit frequently and that makes our decision easier to live with, too. We have been here 3 years now and we do not regret moving here. We thank God for our neck of the woods and the friends and family here. We also are so fortunate that there is a Bible teaching/preaching church that does not sway from the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we are now members of.

5. A memory from this week that made you smile? 

On Saturday we celebrated the 80th birthday of our grands’ Great Granny with a surprise party. Sunflowers are a favorite of Granny so the great granddaughters wore a sunflower hairband. Addy had a sunflower dress on. JJ had a bowtie in the color scheme of a sunflower.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’m slowly revisiting our 21 day road in order with posts on my blog of things we saw and enjoyed along the way. We left our home on September 21st and arrived home again on October 10th.

Tomorrow will continue on day two arriving in Sheridan, Wyoming.

On to South Dakota

We continued on our Land That We Love Tour into South Dakota today, Thursday September 23rd. It was a long day and I’ll leave you with just one postcard. Later I will document more fully all we have seen. No time for the computer on Thursday.

We loved getting to this spot which was a ‘bucket list’ must see in person destination. Mission accomplished.

I have many photos from Mount Rushmore so be forewarned that I’ll be sharing them soon.

Friday we head to a new time zone.

Where in the World…

…is our traveling family?

My youngest brother and his family are having an RV adventure around the USA (Wholly-Rollin) for who knows how long. My sister Lana and her hubby Steve met up with them in South Dakota the 16th through the 19th of September and here are a couple photos I “borrowed” from them. Leonard, Mandy, Hope and Andrew will soon make it to our neck of the woods the beginning of October. Hope and Andrew are being RV schooled enjoying God’s amazing creations around the USA. They have just left the Yellowstone Area and the Grand Tetons heading to Montana.

Leonard and Lana, the babies of our family. They are twins. The Black Hills of South Dakota.

Meanwhile back in our neck of the woods,  Jaymison and Addyson enjoying the beginning of Autumn.

Addy is enjoying a carrot fresh out of the garden and JJ is always pleased to be seated on any piece of machinery!

After I got the framework of the puzzle done and a lot of the interior done, Dear helped me finish up this Matryoshka Doll puzzle. He did leave the final pieces for me. It was a tough one but satisfying to see it completed. This is our 7th COVID-19 puzzle in the books!

Have you taken up puzzles lately? Do you grow carrots in your garden? Are you part of the RVing world? What’s the favorite place you’ve traveled to in the USA?