pic: Al & Dottie Mt. Rushmore

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Eric,
Didn't do much in Rapid City except buy a camera and some gas. Dottie's pocket cam blew off the hood of the car in the Badlands and jammed the lens. I have it apart at home now and still can't get the lens back in the right order for the software. If I feel lucky, I will try and get the lens apart but I suspect either a damaged sensor or a broken sensor activator.

Have you had a chance to get out into the Badlands? Pretty weird scenery if you don't have someone stepping off the path and getting in your way. Had this happen on more than one occasion since there is not a lot of rangers. Some people don't get the impact they can have on an environment that gets maybe 3-4 inches of rain a summer.

For those of you who don't know this...There is a secret vault behind Lincoln's head that the sculptor, Gutzom Borgland, had intended for permanent storage of archival documents. He was only able to blast in a few feet before the war effort started pulling money away. If you look at pictures of the monument you may see the outline of Washington's coat and Lincoln's hand holding the lapel of his coat. The sculpture was intended to be waist up carving that was never added.