First Trip Headed North

When I worked at the Archdiocese of Denver I would take bus loads of people to the Land of Enchantment. I did the trips for ten years and when I retired I stopped doing the yearly trip to New Mexico. After being retired for a few years people began asking me to plan another trip and in 2013, I began arranging for groups to go on pilgrimages to Southern Colorado and Northern New Mexico.

This year, for the first time, a plan to visit Mt. Rushmore took place with forty-two persons. The planning was a bit more difficult because everything was guess work; where we would spend the night, where we would eat and what would we see. I relied on the Internet, AAA, the South Dakota 2017 Vacation Guide magazine and many phone calls until I came up with an itinerary.

We left Spirit of Christ Catholic Community on June 18, 2018 at 8:00 in the morning on an Ace Express bus and our first stop was St. Mary's Cathedral in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Gothic outside is not too impressive but on entering the cathedral the first thing that takes your breath away is the Baldachin or ciborium. A four poster structure that the priest explained is like a four poster bed and it represents God and his relationship to humanity.

 The second outstanding feature is the large organ in front of a beautiful stained glass window of the Madonna. The windows and the organ came from Europe and the organ weighs 36,000 pounds.

Lunch was at Chick Fil A and I had no idea it was inside a mall. Luckily, there were plenty of tables and chairs. A few of the travelers took it upon themselves to get the condiments, napkins and then serve the prepared sandwiches. After a flurry of service, while a few went shopping in the mall, everyone was fed and ready to continue on our journey.

In Lusk, Wyoming we stopped at a rest stop and after everyone used the potty we continued on our way to Mt. Rushmore. We checked in at the Rushmore Express in Keystone, South Dakota and freshened up a bit, loaded the bus and headed to see the giant stone heads. The weather was drizzly

as we entered Carver's Café. What a disappointment for me because I was under the impression that it would be a restaurant where we would sit and someone would wait on us. Instead, we lined up, ordered from a menu hanging on the wall, and carried our trays to tables where we would eat our dinner. I had the Buffalo Stew and it was good. Reports I heard was that the different meals were also tasty. I went from table to table and let them know that for dessert we would go next door for some of the famous ice-cream that was advertised as being made from Thomas Jefferson's original recipe. I thought the double dips were pricey at $6.25 a cone or cup but everyone seemed to love this part of our trip!

And then we faced the elements. Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln were completely hidden behind a misty cloud. It was raining and a bit on the cold side and I found a theater that was showing how the heads had been created. I ran around trying to find as many persons so they could come and see the movie in a warm and dry theater. Some opted to shop in the souvenir store while others waited in the rain for the light show scheduled at 8:30.

I could see some of the group sitting under umbrellas and one of the travelers had brought blinking poles with the American flag and I spotted those folks holding up their flag. As we all stood for the National Anthem I thought that was the end of the ceremony. Later I found out that the military men had been called down to the stage where they brought down the flag and the honor of folding the flag went to one of our very own World War II soldier. Luckily, pictures were taken so I have added them to this blog.

What beautiful ceremony with our members that many of us missed because we thought the show was over. Thank God for photos!

This was our first day and despite the weather it passed for a good day! We had a good laugh when we said that four of the men would probably be the only heads we would see!

But then, the area cleared up for a moment and we were able to sort of see the Presidents' heads up on the mountain!

Mt. Rushmore