We headed out to Mt. Rushmore...if you look closely below you can barely make out not much of anything:
Obviously, the fog took more time to lift than we had anticipated. Deciding that we did not want to hang out in the trailer all day, we continued on to a place called Custer, South Dakota. Custer, SD is the epicenter of tourist tackiness. Christine and I have been to several cheesey tourist places...Myrtle Beach, Cancun, Pikes Market etc. etc. etc. However, no place matches Custer in sheer over the top gross. It is a tribute to the white trash way of life. Who buys this stuff?
I submit the following three exhibits:
And finally, what I would call the grand finale of bad taste:
We spent about 30 minutes in Custer. That was about all any of us could take without laughing out loud. I observed several people seriously checking out some of this stuff and could only imagine the looks on people's faces as they received the gifts. "Oh boy Cecil, you really should not have. What am I going to do with a battery powered musical dancing gold prospector?"
We then headed back up to Mount Rushmore as it appeared that we would be able to see what we came for. We were not disappointed.
The monument is awe inspiring. Inspiring not just because of the accomplishment of carving four faces into granite...though that is certainly enough to make you shake your head in wonder. What is awe inspiring to me is that they were able to get enough people behind the project.
Imagine what would happen today if someone wanted to carve some faces into the side of a mountain. First off, the 22,117 special interest/race/religious groups that exist in this country would find fault with any candidate for such a monument. Secondly, environmentalists (maybe rightly so) would be up in arms for the damage done the mountain/environment. Finally, who would pay for it? I just don't think it could be done today.
Anyways, we had a great time there. Next up? The Crazy Horse statue and monument.
E
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