The Myth & The Majesty

So yesterday morning, my big head was on the Today Show. Yup. Thursday was ... confusing. We had all pretty much figured the sign fervor had died down. A week had passed; hits on the original Facebook post had slowed to a normal level. More importantly, the sign itself seemed to be working -- we haven't had to give anyone instructions all week, although I'm sure the snow has helped. Then I went to my great-aunt's wake. [I'm suddenly relieved that I don't have that many stories that start with funerals.] I met my parents there and afterwards we went to dinner with my grandparents. When I got back to my car, I had two missed calls and a rather surprising voicemail from the Chef Lady. "You need to call me back right away. We got a call from the Today Show and they want to talk to you..." After plenty of assurances that no, this wasn't an early April Fool's joke, I found myself making a flurry of phone calls in a restaurant parking lot,...

A year and a half ago, I wrote a piece on a problem we've had at the camp for quite some time. Given that the iPhone 5 (I suspect) has perpetuated this issue, I thought it was worth revisiting. So. This is Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is a national monument. With carvings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln that stand sixty feet tall, it is one of the most visited monuments in the country. You reach it from Rapid City via a multi-lane highway that is clearly marked by large green interstate-style signs. You will see it before you reach it. This is Storm Mountain. Note the lack of granite. It has a United Methodist church camp reached via a winding gravel road. The camp has a lot of great features but no phenomenal sculptures. There is no view of Mount Rushmore from our trails, lodges, or parking lot. This week alone, there have been at least five car...

We have had a very strange problem at the camp for some time now. In fact, it's been going on for over a year. You see, there has been an error on Google. One that led tourists of all shapes and sizes to the camp instead of to these four big faces that are kinda famous. It has been ridiculous -- we're talking tourists by the dozens turning up in our parking lot, looking for George and his buddies. As of yesterday, this error was finally corrected, at least on Google. It may persist in other places. (Apple devices seem to be another major culprit.) With that in mind, I'd like to offer some travel tips. 1. If you're going down a gravel road expecting to find a national monument, odds are good you're in the wrong place. 2. If your phone or GPS gives you directions contradictory to the highway signs around you, odds are good it's your phone that's wrong. 3. If you realize that this massive sculpture is probably visible from a distance and for some re...