So Wednesday morning (last week), Dan and I found ourselves in Rapid City, SD. This was our final overnight before ‘home’ – Colorado Springs. The storms had passed and it was a gorgeous day. Perfect for seeing some carved mountains.
Mt Rushmore was impressive. While looking at the faces of four past presidents could bring up cause others to contemplate history and how these men impacted it, I found the construction/sculpting of the mountain face more interesting. Just like most things in our world, the vision of one man led to what many come to see today. In the visitor’s center at the monument, they had on display some of the original sketches and busts of what the artist envisioned. Had there been more time and probably money, he wanted a full figure of these men to grace the mountain side. An undertaking of this magnitude seemed only possible back in those days. It is much harder to imagine sculpting on this scale today. Until you visit Crazy Horse.
Ambitious. That is pretty much what you call what is being done a few miles away. Started many years ago (1947 or so), this monument was not funded by the government and therefore has taken a long time to move forward. The face is carved and they have the plans on how to sculpt Crazy Horse’s steed. I hope years from now that I can return to that place and see what private donations have accomplished. Who knows – it could be another Wonder of the Modern World.
After our cultural intake, we drove straight on to Ft. Collins, CO. I didn’t mention it before, but it was fortunate that Dan grabbed a number of podcasts from NPR while at the hotels. We were able to here great episodes from Car Talk, This American Life, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Planet Money, and more.
In Fort Collins, we had two more breweries to review: New Belgium and Odell’s. Tyler, Dan’s brother-in-law, joined us for this part. New Belgium was popular! Especially since many people could bike over from town. A new concept here was three free tastings. Overall, we found the beers tasty. The atmosphere was busy yet also a bit touristy. Odell’s on the other hand seemed like the lesser known local brewery. We got two flights – the Classic and the Co-Pilot. Wow. All 10 beers were a hit. Paired with the laid back atmosphere, Odell’s makes it into our top five.
Post Ft Collins, we headed directly to Dan’s new home in Colorado Springs. If you haven’t been out to Colorado at all or in a while and you are like me, the views of the foothills and the open sky is just breathtaking. I understand what draws people to the mountains.
--J^3
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