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巴士之旅（3）：不完美的美

(2012-07-29 10:26:47) 下一個

這是不完美的一天，第一見到的是瘋馬雕像。這座紀念印地安英雄的巨型雕塑，從1948年就開始建造了，經曆了兩代人，雖然初具規模，離開竣工依然遙遙無期。然後我們參觀了總統頭像，華盛頓、傑弗遜、羅斯福、林肯，四大總統氣宇軒昂，高高在上。聽了介紹，知道總統頭像從1927年開始建造，原來的規劃是四座胸像，但是1941年用完了經費，隻好改成了四座頭像。

接著我們參觀了熊世界，大家坐在巴士裏麵，觀看外麵自由行走的動物，真不知道誰在參觀誰啦。這時候就發現了相機的不完美，傻瓜相機一般使用尚可，可是在動蕩的巴士裏抓拍就不行了。白色的老狼，哺乳的山羊，許多動人的場景，留在照片上的卻是一團模糊。

然後我們來到壞地國家公園，那可真是一片名副其實的壞地，被風化得殘缺不全，卻是那樣的雄偉壯觀。據導遊說，這是一個誕生哲學家的地方。是嗎？真是應了那句話嗎，土地不壞，遊人不愛？

兒子的記敘

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.

女兒的警告

“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.