Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

Nestled in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Rushmore is one of those iconic American landmarks that you have to see at least once in person. Carved between 1927-1941 by Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, Rushmore features 60 foot heads of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.  

It was on a 2007 road trip that my friend Andrea and I made our way to South Dakota. We also stopped off at Devil's Tower in Wyoming, Chimney Rock in Nebraska, and the other nearby mountain sculpture, the Crazy Horse Memorial also in South Dakota.

From North by Northwest to Team America, there's always something pretty cool about seeing a landmark in real life that you've already seen so many times in pop culture. For instance, I had no idea what the area around Mount Rushmore actually looked like, or that you could walk a trail that lead directly below the mountain. It gave me a completely different perspective on something that I thought I'd already seen. Plus, there was a surprising amount of other things to do surrounding Mount Rushmore that made for some pretty entertaining exploring.

The original design of the completed Mount Rushmore.

Mount Rushmore in a rainy fog.

The view from the trail below Mount Rushmore.

Jumping in the rain at Mount Rushmore.

Medicine Hat High School Renovation: Part 2

A continuation of my photo series featuring the ongoing renovation / modernization of Medicine Hat High School in Medicine Hat, Alberta. 

Close Encounters at Devil's Tower, Wyoming

A geological wonder and the backdrop for Spielberg's 1977 science fiction classic, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Devil's Tower is an unmistakable landmark in eastern Wyoming. Flat on top and vertically lined, Devil's Tower is also referred to as "Bear Lodge", and Native American artwork depicts a giant bear clawing the sides of it to create its distinct facade.

On our 2007 road trip to Mount Rushmore, my friend Andrea and I visited Devil's Tower to hike the trails surrounding it. Rising over 1,200 feet from the Belle Fourche River below, the formation is quite imposing and really cool to see up close. Believed to be an igneous intrusion or perhaps a volcanic plug, the main consensus is that it's clearly a meeting point for aliens. Or at least that was the impression we got from a nearby gift shop. 

Devil's Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

A few of the souvenirs I picked up.