4 Presidents and a wild wilderness

Mt. Rushmore is one of those places I assumed I'd never see.  Not even sure which state it was in... But, here we go, bright and early, into the Black Hills of South Dakota, to Mt. Rushmore.
http://www.npca.org/parks/mount-rushmore-national-memorial.html?adwords=1&gclid=CIzspPGI-KsCFYxU7AodGCF0AA
 Wow, it's impressive!  You can see it from the highway, but we opted to pay the $11 parking fee  (good for 1 year and no admission fee....) to see the boys up close.  It's awesome to see as you approach it from the park entrance.

But when you get to the viewing terrace, the work becomes incredible.  One eye is about the height of a man.  The sculpture took almost 20 years to complete.

There is a nice Presidents' Walkway around the base of the mountain, letting you view the sculpture from other angles.  The part we liked best was the presence of a goat family, confidently grazing just next to the path.  Baby was the cutest.

The parents were close by.  One was grazing also, the other one was on watch.

A much smaller denizen of the park was just as cute....

Next, off to the Badlands National Park.   http://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm  I've never seen anything like it and I can't describe it well enough.  The park is made up of geologic deposits, full of fossils.  This is the most desolate, barren, ruggedly beautiful place I've ever seen.  Here is a sampling of our pictures but they can't begin to do the park justice.

 
One of the park area is Prairie Dog town.  Lotsa little ones, running amok, calling, and chirping at our intrusion.  They are fat, little rolly-polly guys.

Stayed at a really dumpy hotel last night, sped through SD today, and are spending the night in Grinnell Iowa.  Home (and Sweet Smoke) are calling.