Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore

So this morning we woke up in Custer, SD. We were on the road again by 7:30 and headed to do a little more sight seeing. We went to two different National Monuments-Crazy Horse Memorial and Mount Rushmore. Both were pretty amazing, but if I had to choose, I like Crazy Horse much better.

This is actually what Crazy Horse Memorial looks like right now. I know it is a little blurry, but we couldn't get close to it at all. One thing that is really amazing is that the little hole in the mounntain is actually not so little. It is actually big enough to hold a ten story building!!! From here it looks so small.

This is what the memorial will look like once it has been completed. I don't think I will ever see the completion of it in my lifetime. There is a lot of blasting that still needs to be done. According to our literature, they do the blasting primarily in the Fall and Winter. Pay attention to the area behind Crazy Horse's face; I will explain more later.

As you can tell it is me and my two sisters. We are actually sitting on the hill that Mount Rushmore is carved and George Washington's head was in the background, but I cropped that out.

Matt and I in front of the monument.

Rachel, Ellen, Matt and I walked a really long way to as far as we could to the base of Mount Rushmore. There were 250 steps that we had to walk; needless to say I was really exhausted when I reached the end.

Some More Pictures

So Thursday morning we set out for home about 9 in the morning. We had so much fun un Seattle at my uncle's house and in the little towns surrounding the city. Thank you so much Uncle Robbie!!!!!

This was a different view of Washington. On the way home we headed straight across Washington to eventually get to South Dakota.

It was so windy the day we set out. Keith had to fight to keep the RV on the road. We actually went to a little look-out point somewhere in Washington and we were being pushed by the wind!! I was actually able to get a good picture-I just had to prop myself up against a rock.

Matt was my wonderful photographer most of the way. He sat in the front with my step-dad and was the navigator. I don't know if you can tell, but in the distance of this picture is dust that was blowing. It looks like fog, but it was just that windy!

Matt thought it was really cool that this flag was standing straight out.

These two have been two peas-in-a-pod the whole week. Matt is truly a big brother to her-from the teasing to making sure she was ok.

Yup-we went through Idaho again!! (Only the little part of the state at the top)

Some of the hills of Idaho. (This was Matt's favorite state-really he just liked to say "Idaho")

Finally in Montana. We stayed the night in Missoula and got up the next day for another full day of driving.

There sure were a lot of hills on this trip!!

I think this is the only picture of the two of us - me and my twin sister, Rachel.

While in Montana we were driving through Crow Country, which is an Indian Reservation. The Battle of Little Big Horn actually took place here. This is a view of the cemetary. It is very similar to our Jefferson Barricks in St Louis.

We walked all around the battlefield. They had little markers where American soldiers had fallen. It was really neat to be able to see a part of our country's history.

This was an iron sculpture at the monument.

In Wyoming again.

The upper part of the state was prettier than the middle. I think this is where Matt finally got to see mule deer.

On The Road Again...

...or so Matt has been singing on and off since we got back in the RV this morning. I don't have any pictures to post right now, but I am sure I will by the end of the day. Just thought I would give everyone an update that has been keeping up with our trip.

Port Townsend

Today we went to Port Townsend. It is about 30 minutes North of my uncle's house. It was really pretty there. We walked around a few shops and then ate lunch.

This is looking at the port as we were driving into town.

The town was full of a bunch of victorian houses. It was really neat to see the different styles and colors.

Here is a picture of the town courthouse.

After we finished in downtown Port Townsend, we went to Fort Worden. It was an old fort back in the day that they now turned into a State Park.

A look across the water is actually Canada!!!

This is an old lighthouse.

This was once soldier's barricks. They have turned officers houses and the barricks into places that people can stay and even rent for parties.

A Day Off...

...well not really. Today we took a day to just lay around the house and do some laundry. Uncle Robb had just a few projects to do, so Matt and Keith worked outside this morning.
Uncle Robb had some bamboo plants that he wanted removed, so Matt had to take an ax to it. Him and Keith took turns swinging the ax because they said it was just like hitting concrete.

The finished product.
Mom and Rachel are washing off the driveway after the guys got done with it.

Matt and Keith did a few more little things around the house while they were at it. I think it was driving Matt crazy to not be working for these last few days.

Downtown Seattle

Yesterday we spent the whole day in Downtown Seattle. It was really a sight to see. I think we spent a total of 8 hours in the city and boy was I tired!!

Here is a picture of us kids with my Uncle Robb. Here we are on the ferry on our way to Seattle.
View of the Space Needle from the ferry.

Here is the market. They were people everywhere.

This is just a view of Seattle down one of the streets.

We did get to up into the Space Needle and you could see for miles!! This is actually Mt Rainier. We woke up yesterday morning and you could see it perfectly!

A view of Seattle from the Space Needle

This was after a long day of shopping and sight seeing. We were all so exhausted!

Uncle Robb took us to Chief Sealth's grave; he is who Seattle is named after. There is this big plaque telling the history of it all.

We're Here!!!!

Well we made it into Seattle last night about 11. It was a long and exhausting day, but we finally made it. It is absolutely beautiful here!! But you will see some shots of that in a little bit.

Here is Ellen, Rachel and I holding up a map of Wyoming (we couldn't get the sign because of road construction).
This was most of the scenery in Wyoming.

Ok, so Ellen is holding up a warning ticket that Keith received in Wyoming. It is really a weird story. We were driving along and there was an abandoned car along the side of the road. It is a law in Wyoming that you have to get in the opposite lane of the vehicle. Well, Keith could not get over because of a car along side of us, so that is why a State Trooper pulled us over. He said he failed to see the car on the other side of us (which how could he see it because of the 30 foot RV we were in).

Some more of Wyoming.

This is actually in Utah. I would have to say that Utah was way prettier than Colorado and Wyoming. There were these HUGE rocks everywhere!!

These were real popular in Wyoming and Utah. They are these huge fans that generate electricity.
More of the beautiful scenery of Utah.

This was on Saturday morning. We were able to get a good night's sleep in the Hampton Inn and we were ready for another day.

My mom thought it would be funny for us girls to stand under this sign.

Idaho was just as pretty as Utah!!

So here we are in Oregon. This was also a pretty state.

The hills of Oregon.

Here we stopped at a lookout point in Oregon. We could see for miles!!

Finally in Washington!!!!!

It was really foggy when we got into Washington. It actually rained on us for the first time last night. It was really pretty. My uncle says that it is green here all year round.

The Puget Sound.
Here is a view of Seattle from the ferry. We had to take a ferry to my Uncle's house. It was really cool!!

On the ferry.

This is actually a shot of getting off the ferry. These ferries are huge!! I think my uncle said they hold 218 cars and 2500 passengers.

Here is my uncle's town, Paulsbo, WA. It is a cute little Norwegian town. We spent the day today walking around the shops. It really reminded me of downtown St Charles.

Here is a picture of my Uncle Robbie's house.

The trees here are huge!!! I was actually standing at the bottom of the tree looking up when I took this shot.

This is a picture of Seattle from my uncle's back yard. He has the most amazing view!! We actually sat and watched some cruise ships go out today from his deck.