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On the road again, exploring

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Our Denver friends, Bob and Gerri Sweeney gave us a tasty sendoff on Wednesday morning. Gerri prepared bacon and eggs for everybody.

We got onto I-25 north and planned to be in Rapid City, S.D., by dinner time. I slept through Casper.

The trip through eastern Wyoming was extremely dull, miles and miles of prairie land. I woke up after an hour of driving and asked Diane if she had moved at all. “The scenery looks the same,” I said.

I’ve been to Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons in Wyoming and they are quite spectacular, but I can’t say the same for the eastern side of the state.

We had planned the Mount Rushmore trip with our New Jersey daughter, Tammy, her husband, Brandon, and their four children, ages four to 10. Believe it or not, the grandkids chose the location of their summer vacation spot. They had studied the monument at school last year. I had been there previously on a National Newspaper Association outing.

The rendezvous point was at the Comfort Inn and Suites Convention Center in Rapid City.

After enjoying breakfast the next morning, we headed out. First stop was Mount Rushmore National Monument. The likenesses of the four U.S. presidents are remarkable.

It was a dream come true for a rock sculptor by the name of Gutzon Borglum.

He had dreamed of a monument carved into a mountainside. It would pay tribute to the greatest U.S. presidents. He had to find that location.

Borglum found the site in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Between 1927 and 1941, with the help of over 400 workers and several influential politicians the work was completed.

The faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are Borglum’s gift to America. The monument was plagued by financial problems as the country plunged deeper into the depression of the 1930s. But he persevered and today, the monument is host to more than 3 million visitors each year.

Ironically, the inclusion of Abraham Lincoln among the faces, considered by most as this country’s greatest president, was the most controversial figure among those included. Borglum said most of the complaints came from those living in the south, where Lincoln was thought of as a traitor.

We then went to the National Presidents Wax Museum in Rapid City. It was done very well with each president displayed in a scene from his presidency. After touring the museum, we split up and went our separate ways. Tammy and Brandon took their children to Bear Country. The kids said they enjoyed watching the bears walking freely around the area from their car.

Diane and I decided to take a drive through Custer State Park.

At the end of our loop around the park, we encountered a herd of buffalo. That’s right, buffalo! Some of them laid down on the road stopping traffic until they got the urge to move.

There were approximately 100 of them grazing on grass that afternoon. In all, there are now 1,300 of them grazing at the park. They began with 36, purchased by the park to start its herd in 1914.

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The death of Sen. John McCain last weekend prompted me to end my column with a story about him and his thoughts on Fountain Hills.

He spoke at the Government Affairs Conference of the National Newspaper Association in 2008. He had announced that he was running for President.

I had the honor of introducing the senator at the breakfast meeting. After his introduction, McCain began his speech with, “I’ve seen cities and towns all over this country, but Alan lives and publishes the newspaper in a town that is in one of the most gorgeous settings for a town you’ll find anywhere.

“The views are incredible.”