这是不完美的一天，第一见到的是疯马雕像。这座纪念印地安英雄的巨型雕塑，从1948年就开始建造了，经历了两代人，虽然初具规模，离开竣工依然遥遥无期。然后我们参观了总统头像，华盛顿、杰弗逊、罗斯福、林肯，四大总统气宇轩昂，高高在上。听了介绍，知道总统头像从1927年开始建造，原来的规划是四座胸像，但是1941年用完了经费，只好改成了四座头像。
接着我们参观了熊世界，大家坐在巴士里面，观看外面自由行走的动物，真不知道谁在参观谁啦。这时候就发现了相机的不完美，傻瓜相机一般使用尚可，可是在动荡的巴士里抓拍就不行了。白色的老狼，哺乳的山羊，许多动人的场景，留在照片上的却是一团模糊。
然后我们来到坏地国家公园，那可真是一片名副其实的坏地，被风化得残缺不全，却是那样的雄伟壮观。据导游说，这是一个诞生哲学家的地方。是吗？真是应了那句话吗，土地不坏，游人不爱？
儿子的记叙
Today we continued to move east, eventually reaching the state of South Dakota. Today we only had to travel through one state, so we visited more places today. First we went to the Crazy Horse Monument. While the concept of the gigantic statue carved from the Black Hills seems amazing, the goal is still far from being done, and the present part of the statue looks merely average. Very close by stood Mount Rushmore, the much more famous mountain statue. The statue looks exactly like the pictures that are commonly seen on the state quarter, with the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln, though the real thing makes you appreciate it to a whole new level.
We started on second half of the day at Bear Country USA, which was a nature reserve/zoo, where we saw animals like Elk, Mountain Goats, Bears, and etc. The actual reserve part of it was quite like a normal zoo, with most of the animals sleeping, but there was a separate zoo area for the baby bears. The baby bears were very active, climbing everywhere as well as play-fighting continuously, probably the first time I’ve seen active animals in captivity that weren’t in shows.
To conclude our day, we went to the Badlands National Park. From what I saw, I would guess that the park is famous for its breathtaking and bizarre landscapes. The area seems very dry for the most part, with periods of rain which cause the cracked ground to swell. This combined with a lot of wind erosion makes the creation of many mini-buttes and butte-like formations. The colorful rocks also fit the sunset very nicely. Tomorrow we will move on to Yellowstone National Park.
女儿的警告
“The animals are NOT tame. Remember to stay in your cage!” is just one of the many things to remember when in Bear Country USA. Bear County USA is basically a place where the humans watch the bears and other animals while Grizzly and Black bears wander observe the humans. The hostile (not really), ferocious (questionable), and lazybones (more like it) aren’t really enclosed. They sort of roam around to wherever they want, occasionally fighting, mostly being lazy sleepyheads. The baby bears are a different matter, though. The baby bears chase and wrestle each other, full of energy. Compared to their babies, Grizzly and Black bears are slow and sluggish as snails. (To all snails: please do not take that as an insult! It’s just a comparison!) Bear Country USA also has other animals, but they don’t enjoy the luxuries of the bears. Their enclosures are small-ish, and their numbers aren’t so plentiful. All in all, Bear Country USA is the best place to see bears.
