An Evening Affair

Written by WAReynolds

“It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.” ~ President George Washington

It looks like George is in pretty good company.

Mount Rushmore is only five miles away from our summer residence; it’s basically in our backyard. The lights there are bright enough that we can see them from our campsite on a clear evening. We should be able to see the Fourth of July fireworks from here. 🇺🇸

Our friends from Florida, Jerry, Wendy and Brody, came to stay at our KOA for ten days. On one of those evenings we decided to visit Mount Rushmore. 🇺🇸

They have a nighttime event at Rushmore at nine o’clock every night that includes a ten-minute lecture from a park ranger, a twenty-minute video called “ Voices of America” and then, as the sun sets over the Black Hills, flood lights wash over the faces of the sculptured presidents. To finish the evening they invite all of the veterans in the audience to come down to the stage for the lowering of the American flag. This is officially called the “Retreat Ceremony”, which signals the end of the duty day and provides a moment to pay respect to the nation. I was way up on the second level and so chose to just watch. The event is over by ten and the crowd then solemnly shuffles out through the corridor of state flags to the parking area for the drive home. 🇺🇸

It was a pleasant, but chilly evening. Treva loved the event and found it rather emotional in a patriotic sort of way. 🇺🇸

The detail of the granite sculpture is amazing. Someone reported seeing a mountain goat in one of the eyes of one of the presidents on a previous day. Can you imagine that? 🐐 Naaaaa…