A very presidential weekend

Chloe and I celebrated Presidents Day with a trip to Devils Tower National Monument, the first national monument created in the United States, and Rapid City, which (we didn't know this when we were heading there) has statues of U.S. presidents on many street corners in reference to Mount Rushmore, which is in the mountains above the city.

First, Devils Tower.

There is a cliff on the other side of those trees. 

Chloe was actually in my backpack but I couldn't get her in any images 

so I held her while taking this one. 

 Mild winter. The snow should be much much deeper at this time of year.

Some parts were slick, like this downhill area that is sheltered from the sun. Treacherous.

Next, Rapid City downtown

Jimmy Carter

Carter's torso, me and a tip of Chloe's head.  These photos were hard to take by myself. 

Andrew Johnson and Chloe

Ronald Reagan, Chloe, me and a bad smile. 

After children have been out all day without a nap, they begin behaving badly, right? Chloe was doing the equivalent of that at this time. She kept trying to pull the leash the opposite direction from where I wanted to go. And she fought me all the while I lifted her up and posed her against the president. A coincidence that her obstinate side comes out with Reagan, no?

George Washington, Chloe and I. 

Chloe and George H.W. Bush

Me, Chloe and John Adams. This photo was actually taken by a passerby.

 I thought I was a bad photographer. Maybe it is time for a new camera. 

Same picture, farther away. 

Now, some scenes from around Rapid City

Ice skating downtown Rapid. 

A sculpture of a Native American to remind us how we are all related.

 (These parts were near severe massacres of Indians.)

Downtown Rapid. It doesn't look very busy but that's the problem of the photographer.
It is vibrant and has retained a quaint, Western feel.

Above and below photos are the storefront of an art gallery that specializes in buffalo stuff.

Cool stuff in the Dakota Drum Co., above and below.

Women's lingerie store called Shangri La!

The coolest graffiti I've seen in a while. The red boxes are obviously a row Dumpsters.

Snowshoeing Spearfish Canyon (Black Hills)

Two weekends ago, my colleague T. and Chloe and I drove up Spearfish Canyon, about 80 minutes from Gillette. T. skied and rock climbed. Chloe and I snowshoed. It was fun, but there was a lot of commotion because everything went wrong.

First, tardiness: We took off too late. I think we left Gillette at like