Mount Rushmore EPIC FAIL - Road Trip Day 5 Episode 11

[robertpaulsen]

It was supposed to be one of the highlights of our road trip. Neek, Sar and I were driving up to see the iconic sculptural monument known as Mount Rushmore National Memorial. But what happened when we got there was completely unexpected!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Darn. Lousy timing.

Several years ago on a trip to Portland, a friend drove us to Mt. St. Helen's. It was completely socked in with fog that day and we couldn't see a thing.

[robertpaulsen]

4. I had that happen about 5 years ago too!

We weren't going directly to Mt. St. Helen's, but we were driving through Willamette Valley wine country looking forward to seeing spectacular views of it. Alas, Mother Nature would not cooperate!

[argyl]

5. Just curious. I visited Mt. St. Helen's about twenty five years ago.

Like almost everyone, I came in from the western side and there were three very nice visitor's centers, on a par with a well visited national Park. Heard there was a nice one on the eastern side as well.
There were a lot of people there, like a National Park,but I understand that visitation is way down and amenities such as visitor's centers, have been slashed. Is this correct?
Not to rub it in but the weather was just gorgeous. And the area looked like black rock canyon country like you'd see in Nevada in the Pacific Northwest.
The trunks of huge trees blown miles away by the eruption looked like matchsticks on the stark black canyon sides.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. I've only been there that once, and we approached from the west also.

The visitor's center did not look as if any amenities have been cut. If they have, the cuts have been rendered invisible.

I usually get good weather whenever I go somewhere, so this was a rare thing for me.

Oh, and a decade or more ago a friend who was hosting a foreign exchange student from Brazil, took said student on a nice drive to see various parts of the country before the student had to return home. Mount Rushmore was one place, and it was totally fogged in that day.

[Kali]

3. being from the desert southwest

I tend to be as thrilled with rain as any other "sights" cute video.

[robertpaulsen]

8. Glad you thought it was a cute video!

At first we didn't mind the rain. Only a couple days earlier, it had been pretty hot. But it got progressively heavier as the day went on. The following day, you'll see in our video next week, the weather created even more amazing "sights." Oh well, I'm sure we'll try to go back some other year!

[csziggy]

7. This reminds me of our visit to Death Valley

It was raining - not hard, but still, not what you expect in Death Valley. Here was Dante's View which overlooks the lowest point:



Yes, it was so foggy/rainy the ravens were grounded!

Later that day was not too bad but I wish we had been able to stay another week to see the desert bloom. Here is what we saw:

[robertpaulsen]

11. I like the photos you took!

Did the rain keep the temperature under 100 degrees? It looks like the weather added to the sense of loneliness there. I'm sorry you didn't get to see the desert bloom. But your pictures have a haunting quality that I like.

[csziggy]

12. That was in January 1978 - it was not hot at all

In fact we had left the Grand Canyon the day before because we were warned we might get snowed in. We drove through Las Vegas without stopping - I hate pretty much everything Las Vegas stands for and didn't want to spend any money there. We even got dinner at a drive thru.

We arrived at Death Valley about midnight and were lucky to get a room - the big place was full and the little motel only had two left. The next morning it was drizzling and it started clearing up as we were driving out of the valley.

The next day we followed the snow plow through King's Canyon - had to show the highway patrolman that we had snow tires (on a truck from Florida - it freaked him out!) before he would let us start up the road.

I wish we had been able to stay over longer in Death Valley - but for our entire trip we had three reservations - at the Grand Canyon, in San Fransisco, and at Big Bend National Park in Texas. Even though we left Grand Canyon a day early, we couldn't change our plans without risking missing the last two reservations.

I really need to re-scan those slides - those were done with an old dedicated slide scanner and are not as good as the one I have now. But there are only so many hours in a day!

[robertpaulsen]

15. Good thing you brought your snow tires!

I know that Grand Canyon can get quite a bit of snow during the winter. The last time we went was March 2010. We stayed in Williams and took the train from there to see it. The weather was fairly calm and the skies were mostly clear, but the ground was still covered with snow because they had a pretty cold winter. That's OK, we were prepared for that. It's when you're not prepared, driving through a place in May that gets hit by a freak snowstorm - that's when snow gets scary!

How did you like San Francisco? We were there about five years ago. The Presidio is a beautiful area with a fantastic view of the Golden Gate Bridge. I don't know if the Haight-Ashbury district was still Summer of Love-like in 1978, but now it's a big tourist trap capitalizing on the hippie nostalgia. They do have a great Amoeba Records store there. And, of course, if you like seafood, Fisherman's Wharf is always a great place to get some.

[csziggy]

16. The snow tires were a fluke

We had bought a new truck and went into our tire place to buy mud tires - we were establishing a farm and all the fields were freshly plowed so we did not want to get stuck. The place had an almost new set of snow tires someone from up north had traded in for street tires. We got a great deal on them and during that January trip from Tallahassee to San Francisco and back they came in handy more than once.

Plus driving in dry sand is great preparation for driving in snow, so we never had a problem.

We really didn't do much in SF. Mostly the trip was to visit some friends who had moved there. They had left a rocking chair with us and we took that out to them (surprised them by having it reupholstered), visited their new place (one of the Painted Ladies), the restaurant they were working at, and just hung out. The most fun was going to a theater on Market Street to see a "new" film that was just catching on - Rocky Horror Picture Show - and getting stoned in the balcony with about a dozen other people that our friends knew.

One day we drove up to Marin County so our friend could check out a restaurant up there and we could check out the shops. We also went across the Bay to Berkeley - bought a tape of Rocky Horror to listen to on the drive home. It was definitely still very much a hippy hangout.

I don't remember much else other than buying a new 35mm camera for my husband - he'd dropped his at the Petrified Forest and kept taking my new one to take photos. I bought him the same model body and a couple of lenses so he could take his own pictures. We ended up with twelve trays of slides from that trip.

We lost touch with our friends for a long time but my husband just connected recently on Facebook. They are still together and because they were always exclusive they never got caught in the AIDS mess. When I couldn't locate them ten years ago I was worried they had been among the victims.

[robertpaulsen]

18. I'm glad your friends are OK. Sounds like a most excellent trip!

That is so cool that you got to see Rocky Horror in the 70s! I saw it for the first time in 1990 in Ashland, Oregon. It's a small town, but very liberal and there was always a huge crowd when they played Rocky Horror at the Varsity Theater. Great memories!

[csziggy]

19. It was a great trip - a sort of honeymoon

We'd gotten married the summer before but did not take a honeymoon then.

Seeing Rocky Horror then was truly cool. That was before audience participation so no one was dressing up. A few people were singing along so that was the very beginning of its cult status.

[WinkyDink]

23. I saw "RHPS" when it opened in the '70s also, the week after I and a group of h.s. students saw it

Last edited Tue Sep 19, 2017, 10:06 AM - Edit history (1)

on the stage in London! I still have that original "RHS" playbill!

"'Rocky Horror' has been shown midnights during weekends since May 26, 1978." Until the Whitehall, PA., theatre where I saw the movie closed in 2002.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/18693

[csziggy]

24. Now THAT is COOL!

I've never had the chance to see much on the stage - any stage, whether high school shows or small town traveling shows. So the idea of seeing the original Rocky Horror stage production is amazing!

[WinkyDink]

26. Did I metion that I was their teacher/chaperone? Hee! I also went with some students back here,

'cause that's how I rolled! (Once one boy's parents sat behind our group, so I figured they approved!)

[BigmanPigman]

9. It sucks when you go all the way down to Machu Picchu

and climb up there in the thin air and it is so cloudy that you can't see anything. My friend experienced that vacation. And he is 80 years old so he said he said he won't be able to go back.

[mnhtnbb]

13. That's really a shame. We were there in 2009 and it was spectacular.

Unbelievably warm, too. I had to go back to the hotel room after lunch--while my husband went back up to the site--
because it was too hot for me.

[robertpaulsen]

20. My father was there in 2009 as well!

He was either 65 or 66, I can't remember what month he went. He passed away from cancer in 2011, but he had plenty of energy in 2009 and loved hiking around there.

Beautiful photo!

[tclambert]

10. Silly tourists! Don't they know Mount Rushmore is all a Chinese hoax?

[robertpaulsen]

22. My darkest fear...

Cheeto Benito has Roosevelt removed from Rushmore and replaced with himself!

[mnhtnbb]

14. What a bummer. Never been to see it.

[robertpaulsen]

27. We did enjoy the visitor center.

The film was very inspiring. But still disappointing to go all that way and get rained out!

[emmadoggy]

17. Aww, that's too bad.

My first trip there, as a kid, had the same weather. We got to Mt. Rushmore and it was completely fogged in. We spent some time in the visitor center and, fortunately, the fog cleared JUST enough for us to see the monument before we had to leave.

Fortunately for me, I've been back two more times and had beautiful weather. The most recent trip was with my husband and kids and the weather was spectacular. We arrived at 8am before the crowds got heavy and the weather was clear and comfortable with a refreshing breeze. Perfect for walking the Presidential Trail, which I highly recommend!

I hope you get a chance to return some day!

[robertpaulsen]

28. I hope we do too!

We really grew to love South Dakota in the brief time we spent there. It might be several years in the future, but we do have the desire to return. Glad you got to see it!

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Been There Twice

Fortunately that didn't happen to us either time.

First time i was about 7 or 8, and the second time, i drove part of the time, so i must have been at least 16. (Maybe 15 with a learner's permit.)

I was an only child when i was there the first time, so just me, mom and dad.

The second time my sister would have been 11 years younger than me and my 3 cousins came to live with us after their parents died, so we had a whole troop, that time.

I know i had a part time job, because i used part of my vacation money to take the helicopter ride up close, and personal to the monument. Awesome.

[robertpaulsen]

29. Wow, I didn't know about the helicopter rides!

Maybe something for me to keep in mind for a future trip.

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Assuming They Still Do That. . .

. . .it's really cool. They probably never get closer than a 100 yards, and they stay above the top so it doesn't interfere with people taking pictures, but it's still awfully close.

My cousin and i both went up with the guy. My mom was freaking out because she didn't trust helicopters.

[Nac Mac Feegle]

25. "Gainst the whims of Fate, theGods themselves doth contest in vain."

Having been 'semi-local' to The Faces, I've seen them quite a few times, but they're still pretty impressive nonetheless.


I'm reminded of a incident that happened a few years ago:
A European tourist was visiting the Grand Canyon, a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and upon arrival discovered that the Canyon was completely filled with fog. Rim to rim, nothing but fluffy whiteness. Can't see a thing. He was severely disappointed, as he couldn't stay around and wait for it to burn off.

He was comforted a bit when it was explained that, while he didn't get to see the depths of The Canyon, he was privileged to have seen an extremely rare event. The conditions necessary for this to happen are extremely rare.

It was one of those Weird occurrences that the 'locals' were highly enthused about, but disappointed the visitors.

[robertpaulsen]

30. Well, we did love the rest of South Dakota.

Even if we didn't see Rushmore or Crazy Horse, we loved the Black Hills, Deadwood, the Badlands and Wall Drug. You are a 'semi-local' in a wonderful state!