First adventure: Mount Rushmore
After that first day in the car, we stopped at Mount Rushmore, which Kathleen and the girls had seen two years ago but I had never seen. It was really cool. We also lucked out as it poured twice while we were there, but the first shower took place while we were inside a building listening to a lecture, and the other happened as we sat under a tent eating ice cream.
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| Our superhero, ballerina, princesses striking a pose in front of the monument. |
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| We're a better looking group than the presidents! |
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| All three girls were born in Wisconsin. And that is the actual skinniness of Lena's legs. |
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| The tunnel to and from Mt. Rushmore. The girls thought it was great. |
Martin's Cove
This was an impromptu trip to a famous Mormon pioneer site. In 1856, an early series of snow storms trapped the Martin and Willie handcart companies in a remote and desolate section of present-day Wyoming. Rescue parties were sent from Salt Lake City and saved most of the pioneers, but the ordeal took dozens of lives.
I (Adam) have relatives in the Martin handcart company, and Kathleen's family has relatives among the heroic rescue party. When we passed it on the way, we decided to stop and learn something. We did.
After pulling our own handcarts and watching a video about a boy who'd survived the harsh conditions, we prepared to get back into our air-conditioned minivan stocked with treats, games and comfort.
Lena said, "I'm glad I live now and not then." She was really touched by the entire experience, including pulling her own little handcart around the small park.
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| Checking it a handcart. |
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| Clare and I taking on a big handcart. Lena pulling her own little one. It's not easy. |
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| Our relative, Mary Soar Taylor, who survived. All those in yellow did not. |
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