Absolute Tenacity

The Road to Rushmore

Looks like a guy headed out to the open field! What the....?

During the summer of 2020, while we had so much time on our hands, my sister and I decided to make plans to visit Mt Rushmore someday.  Then, in the Spring of 2021, I heard that Robert David Steele #UNRIG and Scott McKay “Patriot Street Fighter” were both speaking at events near Mt Rushmore/Custer for the 4th of July.  And Boom! Hotel reservations were made immediately! We began planning the rest of the trip around that. This is my story about The Road to Rushmore.

A picture of a map of the USA, highlighting the route from Galveston TX to Mt. Rushmore SD
The Road to Rushmore

Mapping the Route

From Galveston, we went through Abilene, Amarillo, and then into Trinidad CO. (To complicate things, we missed our exit to Amarillo, so we had to go toward Ft Worth which cost us a couple of hours, but we found that awesome Rest Stop!) From Trinidad, we went west/north, through Breckenridge. 

Booking.com

Avoiding Denver completely we stayed to the west, which allowed us to see Golden and Boulder.  Back onto I-25 up to Cheyenne Wyoming, we turned east into Nebraska, and then north all the way through Nebraska, into South Dakota.

While we didn’t make any notable stops, we did see some interesting things!  Let me show you what we saw on The Road to Rushmore.

Roadside Patriot

It looks like a short stocky man wearing a yellow/orange safety vest and a white hard hat. He's carrying a US Flag that is tattered and torn. He's standing just off the road, heading into/out of an huge open field.
#RoadsidePatriot west of Roby TX

Just west of Roby, on Hwy 180, my sister asked me, “Was that a real guy?”

I said, “I missed it.  Wanna turn around?”

“Yes” came the reply, “I will always wonder what that was if we don’t.”

Another shot: It looks like a short stocky man wearing a yellow/orange safety vest and a white hard hat. He's carrying a US Flag that is tattered and torn. He's standing just off the road, heading into/out of an huge open field.
#RoadSidePatriot

So I whipped a U-ey and went back! And sure enough, there was a “man” standing near the side of the road!

A closeup show an old stump of a tree with a jagged piece sticking up. This is the piece that has the helmet on it, so the wood beneath it looks like a neck. The shoulders spread out beneath that, which is the bulk of the tree stump. He's wearing a faded orange tshirt and a yellow safety vest, both severely faded so they almost look like the same color. Some sort of metal post serves as a flag pole for Old Glory. The pole is attached to the neck with a band of some sort.
A close-up of the Roadside Patriot

With the car idling on the shoulder and taking pix as I approached, I walked up to him to investigate. Just before I reached him, a pickup truck slowed down, and the friendly driver said, “Are you taking pictures of our man?”

I said, “Yes, yes I am! What can you tell me about him?”

The base of the Roadside Patriot is revealed as a tree stump.
The Base of The Roadside Patriot

He said, “Well, he just sort of SHOWED UP one day, and people keep adding things!”

“Does he have a name?” 

 “No, not that I know of!” 

Looks like a guy heading out to the open field with a tattered american flag waving in the wind

I hereby dub thee:  #Roadside Patriot.  Let’s see if it sticks!

Trinidad, Colorado

antique store
The Entry Way to the Antique Store

As a general rule for this trip, we always migrated to the backroads. Trinidad, however, is directly on I-25, near the Colorado/New Mexico border. And that’s we found an antique shop, which made for a few cool photos.

A replica of a bicycle, but it's made of oxidized iron. Very realistic, including a playing card clipped to the frame so it makes noise in the spokes of the wheel.
Iron Bicycle
A very old machine that looks like it could be a printing press, but it looks similar to a typewriter.
Antique Typewriter?

Do you happen to know what this is? Maybe it’s a printing press? If you have any ideas, please let me know! 

Cheyenne, Wyoming: Lions Park

A picture of the overall playground
The Playground at Lions Park

Traveling with 2 children requires an occasional playground stop! In Cheyenne, Wyoming we found one such park, and it’s noteworthy: Lions Park.

The park was very big, and I’m sure it has much more to offer than a playground. But that’s why we were there in the first place, so it is there the focus remains.

Bigger gym for bigger kids! A larger jungle gym with a twisting slide.
Lions Park Playground

The playground had a section for smaller kids, with less intimidating things.  Shorter stairways, shorter slides, that kind of thing. But it also had a section for bigger kids, with twisting slides and taller surfaces to climb up to. 

Elastic rope suspends the climber along this net rope climber.
A Net-Rope-Climbing Jungle

Personally, I wanted to climb more into this beehive, but I also didn’t want to break my neck. An emergency room visit changes everything. Right? 

Booking.com

Just past the playground was a grassy area that butted-up against a sandy beach that lead directly into the placid lake.  Naturally I didn’t get any pictures of that.  I’ll check with sister.

State Lines on The Road to Rushmore

At this point in our journey, we have been in the states of Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska.  

Wearing white shorts and a black tshirt that says, "It's Just A Phase" a woman with big hair stands roadside, arms akimbo, near the Nebraska State Line sign.
Nebraska State Line

Next Stop: Spring Hill South Dakota where we will stay for a few days and visit Mt. Rushmore. All aboard!

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