Mamouth Bones, and Presidents Heads

Archaeology is something all of our family thinks is neat so it was great to be able to stop in and see a live archaeological site. The Mammoth Site is an archeological site that was found when a developer began to break ground to build a subdivision. Luckily when they dug up a mamoth tusk they stopped and were able to make this amazing discovery. It is an old sink hole that is literally filled with hundreds of bones of creatures that got stuck and died in the sink hole crater and later were filled over with through years and years...

We took the tour and it was really neat to learn more about the history that they have uncovered and what they can tell from it.

Out of the hundreds of Mammoth bones discovered- all of them are Male!

After that we drove past Crazy Horse

(we weren't "crazy" enough to pay the entrance fee to see it up close)

and on to Mt Rushmore.

A great view as you walk towards it...

It is amazing what they did... the hours and years of work, the skill of the stone cutters and blasters and the huge undertaking it was. We walked through the museum, watched a short movie, and walked around the presidential loop up closer to the mountain.

Then we came back and found seats for the lighting ceremony. A Ranger told us a little bit about Mt Rushmore and then a video was played.

At the end of the Video the mountain was lit up with lights.

After that they had a neat ceremony where all service men and women past and present were invited down on the stage. They introduced their name and service, and then eight of them were invited to take the flag down for the evening in a flag ceremony. I think it might have been my favorite part of the evening. A very moving tribute.

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THE NEWTON'S

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