Home and Heart

Yesterday, Saturday 11/21, we started with our Christmas present from Helen Jo Howard- Dick’s step mother. She and Dick’s dad enjoyed a helicopter ride over 30 years ago in the same place. Sweet!

It was FABULOUS! The bird’s eye views of Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse were stunning. Perfect weather helped… And yes. It is all very moving. We drove to each memorial museum later in the day to dig in and learn who, what, why and how each monument came to be. The story behind the carving of Crazy Horse was a revelation. If you can possibly see these works…you won’t be disappointed.

Next….the Needles Highway. Our friend Lynn Ashley grew up in the area. Like touring Spearfish Canyon- we had NO idea such beauty awaited. The ‘Needle’ mountains were formed by magma bursting through to the surface from the center of the earth. Surreal, truly.

Our helicopter pilot suggested hiking at Sylvan Lake. This was another ‘wow’ place. Massive boulders emerging from a crystal clear, still lake. Seeing these ‘out of this world’ places makes us wonder why we had to finally GET there to even HEAR about them.

To top off the day we headed back to Mount Rushmore to see it lighted after dark.