Denver & Mount Rushmore

3.07.05

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. Day 8

It has been a wonderful few days. When I wrote last we were looking forward to seeing Suzanne and the girls. The drive from Grand Junction to Denver was incredible. Driving through the Rocky Mountains, with snow capped peaks, rocky streams and pine-covered mountains left us breathless. And since I was doing the driving I’m certain Bob’s breathlessness had as much to do with my driving around the curvy mountain roads as with the scenery! I forgot to mention the reason why I was driving. On Monday, (yes, the first day out) when we were climbing around Zion, Bob slipped on a mossy spot and went down on his elbow, saving his camera from sure destruction but jamming his shoulder. Part of our journey on Tuesday included a quick trip to the Emergency Room in St. George, Utah (x-rays showed nothing broken thank goodness) and a fashionable arm sling. He has promised me he will not climb around like a mountain goat (or a 16 yr old!) and will be more careful. It’s healing pretty well now but I made him ride shotgun and took over the wheel so he could rest his arm. All seems well now, so not to worry.

On Thursday we stopped in Vail and watched skiers gracefully make their way down the mountain and looked in the little shops, enjoying a nice lunch and a little break from the driving. We arrived amid much fanfare in Denver (and a sign on the door that said “Italy or Bust” that my sister and her girls had created to welcome us. They even added a few words in Italian about our “avventures”. We had a wonderful time together. On Saturday we were so lucky to be able to watch the dress rehearsal of Sam’s play “The Three Princes” a hilarious parody of the prince/princess fairytales, given a fresh and very funny twist. Sam is fabulous as the very “bored” Rapunzel and the smart-alecky Cinderella. Her eyes light up on stage. Her face is full of subtle expression. Of course we are biased but we think she has a career on the stage ahead of her!

Maddie is amazing as well. Her imagination knows no bounds and she is forever thinking up things to do and entertaining us with her knowledge of Native American Indians and calculating mathematical problems!

We spent all day Sunday at the Denver Zoo, just holding hands and strolling the beautiful grounds. The time spent together went much too fast and I found myself once again having to say goodbye with many hugs and kisses and promises to write and planning for them to come and visit us in Italy which I will very much look forward to.

Today was a long driving day. Mt. Rushmore was our destination but we also made a stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming to see the state capital (surprisingly there are no metal detectors or any type of visible security and we were able to climb all around the building and take photos and be tourists). We shared a delicious hamburger in a little local joint in a town called Lusk (the best burger in town according to the guy at the Shell station, so we had to try it). In Custer, S.D., is the Crazy Horse monument. This is one enormous sculpture being carved out of a mountain in the Black Hills. They say once it is finished it will be the largest sculpture in the world. At the moment, the only thing complete is the face. Because it is winter still in this part of the country, we were not able to get any closer than the visitor center and it was so cold, it was just as well! We arrived at Mount Rushmore around 5 pm and wandered around enjoying the various viewpoints. I find myself a bit torn by these giant sculptures carved out of mountains. Part of me thinks they should just leave these natural formations alone – they are beautiful enough without man’s interference. And yet, the skill and artistry of creating art in nature are to be admired and certainly do inspire awe. What doesn’t inspire awe are all the really awful reproductions of these four faces on every imagination surface, from magnets to key chains to snow globes, t-shirts, thimbles and lord knows what else. It never ceases to amaze me what people will buy! But I digress. Mount Rushmore was beautiful and because we were there at dusk, there weren’t very many people there and we wandered around virtually alone and it was lovely.

Tomorrow we plan on being awed once again by Mother Nature in the form of the area called “The Badlands”. Should be amazing. Bob will be sharing the driving with me so all the heart stopping should be caused by the scenery! Our plan is to arrive in Milwaukee by Thursday. We’ll keep you posted.

Ciao!
Rosemary & Bob

p.s. still working on adding photos.