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.
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.comAvoiding 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
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.”
So I whipped a U-ey and went back! And sure enough, there was a “man” standing near the side of the road!
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?”
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!”
I hereby dub thee: #Roadside Patriot. Let’s see if it sticks!
Trinidad, Colorado
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.
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
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.
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.
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.comJust 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.
Next Stop: Spring Hill South Dakota where we will stay for a few days and visit Mt. Rushmore. All aboard!