Sept 24 - First Head Trip
We got up today and headed straight for Mount Rushmore, just a few miles from camp. I was here about 20 years ago and I remembered a small, weathered visitor center and wooden viewing platform. Today there is a huge elaborate granite visitors center, parking garage, and a paved viewing trail that takes you right to the base of the carvings.
As we approached the visitors center, we spotted a sign advertising self-paced audio tours. Angel went to check that out while I snapped some pictures. Surprisingly there were no virtual caches there 
After what seemed like a ridiculous amount of time, she returned. Turns out the audio tours were a brand-new feature and she was the very first customer! They do need to work on their procedures, though, because it took almost a half hour at the counter and she practically had to sign her first born away 
We then took a nice walk around the place, listening to all sorts of facts, trivia, and minutiae about the mountain and the carved heads. Much of it seemed oddly familiar to me. I probably read all the same stuff in the old visitors center 20 years ago.
After we were done there, we took a drive around the Black Mountains. We found several geocaches, and viewed Mount Rushmore from several angles, including looking through a few tunnels. The tunnels were purposely carved in strategic locations to "frame" the giant heads. The National Park Service even keeps the trees cut down and/or trimmed in line with these tunnels so as not to block the view. We eventually ended up back at our campground after dark.