Day Two...

Day Two... We left Billings early... it was a super quick trip to see the Oltrogge's and their gorgeous house but were glad they were free!  We were headed to South Dakota... but first a stop at Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming..

We hiked a bit around the base of the tower...

It is crazy the amount of boulders that surround the base... you were able to hike up to the tree line if you chose to or if you had a permit you could hike past the treeline and climb the tower... we did see a few climbers on the tower.

This is a sacred area for many of the Native American tribes and so along the path were many prayer offerings...

The kiddos earned another junior ranger badge...

So yes... it was a bit parent enforced but they were good sports and are glad to have one more to add to the collection...

We continued on into South Dakota... drove thru Deadwood which looked like a super cute town... next time we will have to stop and spend some time.  With it being the weekend before Sturgis it was biker craziness. We were all past starving and decided to just push on to Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore is an interesting park... it is free to enter but you pay for parking which is in a parking garage!  First parking garage we have ever seen in a National Park.  First up was to find some dinner and get started on the next Junior Ranger Badge.

It was buffalo burgers for all but Ainsley... you never know with the cafeteria style food but it was pretty good... not gamey at all!!

Then we were off to view exhibits before the lighting ceremony... Walker lucked out and was just at the cut off for an easier Junior Ranger Book.  Ainsley had a much harder one and since she started feeling yucky... I may have been the "official Junior Ranger" of Mount Rushmore!!

While you look up at the monuments you can't help but think you are on a movie set and that it's just a screen in the background.

The three hours we spent watching videos... and reading exhibits flew by and we finished up the Junior Ranger booklet just in time for the evening lighting ceremony... I wish the pictures taken would have been more spectacular but it will be the moment and feelings I had during this lighting ceremony that I will remember forever... it truly was an awesome experience.

It was a beautiful night... just the right temp to sit outside underneath the Big Dipper.  The park ranger set the stage by describing America in the early stages... she went on to talk about the poet who watched from afar as America fought for their independence.  The entire time she recited the Star Spangled Banner poem which eventually turned into the National Anthem... I'm sad to say that I had no idea that it was a poem... a much longer poem before it was pieced together into the Anthem.  Then we watched a movie that focused on each of the four presidents and what their contributions were to our nation... SO GOOD!!

Then the monument was lit...

You are feeling overwhelmingly patriotic... you sing "America the Beautiful" with the entire audience and then the Park Ranger asks for all military people past and present in the audience to help her retire the flag... OH MY... as they continued lining up... introducing themselves with their rank and service... the tears just fell. It was again a truly memorable experience... that feeling of being so proud... so safe... so thankful to live where we do was a great feeling!