Mt. Rushmore

Note: The next few posts are all from Spring Break, but not necessarily in order.

After spending a few days in Provo, we managed to convince Mark that a daytrip out to Mt. Rushmore was a great idea. (Turns out he didn't need much convincing!) So, as spoiled as they come, we got to fly out to South Dakota for the day and visit one of the most patriotic sites in the nation. It was a dream come true! I loved every second of it!

Our fearless pilot and his co-pilot. Private planes are the coolest! We had a perfect flight and were totally amazed at the whole experience - no wonder Mark loves it so much!
Once we landed, we drove about an hour through a national park on our way to the monument. We got to see buffalo a-plenty and fell in love with the Black Hills of South Dakota - it was gorgeous there!

The coolest part of the drive was that your very first time seeing the monument is driving through a tunnel that was cut out just perfectly to form a picture frame for the monument. It was breath-taking! Pictues, as always, don't do it justice!

We've arrived! Zane got to join us for the day and we were so glad he did - it was a blast!

Now if that doesn't make you feel proud to be an American, I don't know what will! ;)

A pretty cool family picture, if you ask me! Pregnant belly and all!

We hiked the short trail that takes you closer to the base of the monument and got some cool shots from a different perspective. Here are the boys looking almost as fantastic as the Presidents!

One of my favorite parts of the whole experience were all of the state flags lining the entrance up to the monument. It looked really cool and Libby thought the flags were all wonderful - I think she liked those more than the sculpture itself!

After spending the day in South Dakota, we flew home and arrived back in less time than it would have taken to drive there one-way. Wow! Are we spoiled or what?! We can't thank Mark enough for the amazing day and for letting us experience his plane. Libby won't stop talking about "airplane, fly, white airplane" and we are so glad! A day for the record books, that's for sure!