Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Where bad is good!

If you ask me why you should go to South Dakota, to see Mt. Rushmore would NOT be my answer. Oh sure it was impressive, but it didn't take my breath away. Maybe because I too often lean toward the side of being a realist, or maybe because I'm a lover of nature as God saw fit to create it and allows it to continually take new shape and form. Or maybe it's because I know that the faces that are carved in the side of that mountain represent just men.

Granted, they did more than the ordinary man to shape this great nation, but it was only by God's grace that they were able to do great things and be elevated, by other men, past ordinary into a stone memorial. If we were to carve into the mountains the face of every man or woman who ever did something great for this country, there would be no mountains left. America if full of unsung heroes.

I admire the many men who worked so hard to accomplish the task of sculpting a mountain, but for some reason their work doesn't make me want to sing praises or bow and worship the God who created all things. It did make me feel grateful though.

It's just my opinion, but I suggest you go to South Dakota to see the beautiful grasslands, the Black Hills mountains, and the Badlands. Oh, and while you are there, don't forget to visit Mt. Rushmore.

From Key West to Seattle, Maine to southern California, this country holds so many beautiful places. A few have taken my breath and put tears in my eyes--made me sing praises and worship the creator. Just to mention a couple of them--Niagara Falls, NY and The Badlands, SD. (The day we went to the Grand Canyon, it was so foggy and snowing so hard you couldn't see the road, or even the front of the truck, so my list is not complete I'm sure.) Both those places gave me goosebumps as I gazed and pondered the power and imagination of THE GOD who creates such beautiful things.

I'm only going to post a *few pictures because our internet access at this campground will only allow me so much bandwidth for a 48 hour time period. Since I don't have a clue about what all that means, and since I'm already at almost 50% of my allowance, I don't want to use it all up, just in case hubby might need it for work. (And just in case I might get to Skype with the grandkids.)

Another reason I'm only going to post a few--I can't decide which pictures are my favorite. So I'll show you  some and give you a link to my Photobucket so you can see them all if you want. I hope you enjoy them--I sure did enjoy taking them! I promise if you don't take a little time to look at some of the others, you will be missing out. We were going to take a quick drive through the area, but once we got in there, we were captivated. No quick drive through would do!



*Yes, this is a FEW since few is a relative term as in comparison to the number I COULD have posted.
Click here for my whole Badlands collection. 

We had an overnight stop in Mitchell, SD--the home of the Corn Palace. This time of year, undergoes its annual "redecoration" but there was enough of last year's design still up that I was able to get some pictures. If you've never heard of the Corn Palace--in short--it is a building that takes on a new look every year, decorated with corn and straw and other such natural materials.
Yes all those pictures and words are made from various kinds and colors of corn cobs placed just so. Pretty amazing.

Whew, what a remarkable two day drive.

Now here we are in Nebraska and I barely got this post done before we are have to pack up and go again. You know by now that we really never know how long we will be any one place, but it looks as if we will be here only a few more days until...

Yeah, bold and dashing.


Lavonda

2 comments:

Deanna said...

Wow! The Corn Palace is really elaborate. All the other pics are gorgeous...hard to imagine the beauty there.

Karen said...

Wow...the pictures are amazing! My hubby has traveled through that area, but I have only seen pictures...yours are some of the best by far....