bedsitter23

One thing that we had on our list of things to do, but did not was the Minutemen Missile Silo.

For those who remember such things, this was a silo used during the Cold War, now revealed and turned into a historic site, located just near Wall, South Dakota. There's the launch center and the silo site. The missile removed in 1991 and the tower deactivated in 1994.

Unfortunately, we did not go.

We had been warned that you need to go early as the tickets sell out quickly. That was true. We did not get there early, though even if we did, it's doubtful we would have wanted to wait all day for an available tour.

That said, I think as time goes on, maybe it won't always be like that. Still, an interesting bit of history. There was a bit of a museum here, though it appears still very new and needs to grow.

I suspect I will be back this way again, and if so, would like to stop and see it.

Current Music: John Lennon- The...Collection
Crossposts: http://bedsitter23.livejournal.com/1034412.html

These aren't the highlights of my summer vacation, but they are things I saw..

I can say with a great deal of accuracy that things I observed.

Andy Williams- he of "Moon River" fame, and Branson fame, and bringing the Osmonds to the world, was born in Wall Lake, Iowa. This is certainly his birthplace

Sioux City, Iowa is home of Trinity Heights, an inspirational location for those of the Catholic faith.

They have a thirty foot Mary and a thirty-three foot Jesus. You don't see those every day.

They have a life-size wooden sculpture of the Last Supper.

There are four (I believe) of these in the World, and this is the only one in which the sculptor is still alive.

The sculptor used townsmen to model as the men he sculpted. For the disciples who were boys (you may know this better than me), he used women.

This is something that you can be flippant or jest about, but it's an incredible piece of work.

As commentors have said on that wonderful archive Roadside America, the women who work there are friendly and the Jesus and Mary sculptures look nice and not tacky in any way.

Another place visited in Sioux City was Palmer's Candy- a candy shop slash museum- light on the museum aspect, but heavy on the candy.

Not worth a trip in it self, but if you are in the area, it's worth the trip.

Palmer is famous for the Twin Bing- sorry I am not familiar with the Twin Bing- I assume it's regional- but it is a chewy cherry flavor nougat with peanuts and chocolates.

We opted for fudge and fancy chocolate.

More details on my vacation to come, but wanted to clear some of the later stops first

Current Music: Mott the Hoople- All the Young Dudes
Crossposts: http://bedsitter23.livejournal.com/1029773.html

One place that has definitely has been on my list of things to see is Mt Rushmore. It is a pretty awe-inspiring piece of work. I have been told some people that it is smaller than expected, but I didn't feel like that at all. I thought it was pretty impressive. Indeed, I have a real respect in that I think it would be hard to carve anyone in stone, let alone make it look like a President. Before we left, American Experience (PBS) ran a special on Gustav Borglum who sculpted it. That is well worth watching. We take Mt Rushmore for granite now, and it is such an American icon. However, it was a very costly gamble in its day. It could have easily been a disaster. Clearly, everyone knows what it looks like, but here's a couple of pictures I took: