Summer 2014- Back to Pavilion

Oh what a wonderful time we were having! Even if it meant everybody doing their own thing- umm, as the following picture depicts......

Quality Family Time! ;) 

Now if only we could be on a holiday forever, which sadly does not quite happen in the real world. Our stay was coming to an end--- and we had to pack our bags and get back on the road. We planned to pretty much retrace the route back to Sammamish. My sis-in-law packed up food for the way, and my bro made us panini for breakfast that Saturday morning of Aug 23rd. It was painful to put all our things into the van. It is so funny- when we started off from Sammamish, packing was so fun and everybody was so excited. But when the holiday ended, spirits were all dampened. With great difficulty we finally said our goodbyes, and started off. Had I stayed there a minute longer, I would have bawled away like crazy! We kept waving at each other until we drove out of their neighborhood. Just as soon as we entered I-90, it was evident that our road trip back home had begun.

Highlight of our back-home trip- Mt Rushmore: 

Like I mentioned above, we pretty much retraced the route--- and our first night halt was at Rapid City, SD. This time we decided that we must go see the world famous Mt Rushmore. It is considered after all  "a project of colossal proportion, colossal ambition and colossal achievement." So after spending the night at the hotel, we checked out the next morning, and headed towards Keystone, and further to Mt Rushmore. As we walked towards the mountain, standing magnificently with the statues of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, it looked incredible! The effort put forth toward carving this Memorial is just astounding. There were 400 women and men involved in the project, led by sculptor Gutzon Borglum. They started on Oct 4 1927 and completed the project on Oct 31 1941- 14 long years of immense hard work and dedication to create a Memorial that would beckon people from all around the world to go see it for umpteen years to follow.....

Where is it, where is it?

We see it, we see it!! 

We just stood there gazing at the mountain sculpture completely awestruck! If it were up to me, I'd have sat there in admiration for hours together. No, really! Apparently there is an evening lighting ceremony that happens every evening from sunset until 8 pm. I bet it is spectacular! I had only read about Mt Rushmore back in elementary school, and never ever thought that I would actually see it. For me it was an absolutely enthralling experience, and I hope we will go back there some day more leisurely.
 

   

The one picture we got, and it turned out to be out of focus! 

Our second night halt was at Butte, MT. Butte has a huge mining history, with discovery of gold, silver and copper in the 1870s, that brought in many new companies and people to the fast-growing city. However, unfortunately, a fire in 1879 destroyed the entire central business district. That's when the Butte City Council passed a law that required that all new buildings be built with brick or stone. As we entered Butte, that's exactly what we saw- red brick buildings everywhere, and it looked so pretty!

My bro had recommended we eat some Butte Pasty and we did try finding a place. But the one place that wasn't too far from the hotel was closed for the day; besides it was a Sunday evening. Well, we ended up getting food from The Pita Pit, which we realized later, is basically a subway sandwich shop, only with pita instead of subs. Oh well! The next morning was going to be our last stretch.

And the Road Trip comes to an end: 

Finally, we reached home on Monday, Aug 25th around evening. We dragged all our bags into the house, and all of a sudden, we realized that we were exhausted. Thankfully I had frozen some leftovers the day we left for the trip, and those came in handy for dinner. As we ate dinner, we talked about our excellent holiday, the cute baby, my loving sis-in-law and brother, and how we cannot wait to see them again!

Afterthought:

I think that road trips are an eye opener- you realize that there is so much beauty out there, and just SO MUCH to see! Road trips are a great way to get out there and experience that wondrous beauty. And going on road trips as a family is even better, especially in this day and age, where everybody is forever rushing about; for it allows for some unwinding to happen, rejuvenates you, and makes you fall in love with your family all over again!

Saw this rainbow as we left Butte, heading towards WA.... 

 Refs: 

1. http://www.nps.gov/moru/historyculture/carving-history.htm

2. http://www.bigskyfishing.com/Montana-Info/butte_mt-2.shtm