Category: National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Memorials & Battlefields, etc.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Jacque Miller, Matt Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller

Date: 1987 & July 10-11, 2003

The heads of four Presidents are a massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. It was completed in 1941 under the direction of sculptor Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln. The granite faces of Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt are 60 feet high.  The sculpture is a symbol of American freedom and the hope for people from all cultures and backgrounds.

We hiked the half mile Presidential Trail which took us past the amphitheater and in front of the carvings giving us the closest look at the four heads. We strolled down Avenue of the Flags where a flag for every USA state and territory was flown. We browsed through the gift shop and then enjoyed ice cream from Carver’s Ice Cream Shop. Exiting the ice cream shop we literally ran into President Abraham Lincoln….not his ghost but a portrayer. The man impersonating Abe was about 6 feet 4 inches tall, wore a big stove top hat and dressed just like the former President.  He talked to all of the kids except Matt who was scared of him. Matt said he looked 8 feet tall and didn’t want to go near him.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Jacque Miller, Matt Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller

Date: July 2003

After caving and camping at Mammoth Cave, we stopped by President Lincoln’s 1809 birthplace. The symbolic one room log cabin on his father’s Sinking Spring Farm is housed inside a Neo-Classical Memorial Building. It reminds us of Lincoln’s humble beginnings and what you can achieve through hard work.

Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Matt Miller, Jacque Miller, Shane Miller, Holly Miller

Date: July 10, 2005

Just off Route 66 and I-40 is perhaps the best-preserved meteor crater on Earth.  This National Landmark is the largest impact crater is almost one mile wide, 2.4 miles around the rim and 570 feet deep. The meteor hit 49,000 years ago.  At the site is a fabulous movie theater, discovery center & mineral shop. We hiked the outdoor observation rim trail where I acted like Holly pushed me & I fell over the rim and climbed back up. The movies “Starman”, “Meteor” & “Damnation Alley” were filmed here.  The kids loved the crater.

Expedition Team:  Dave Miller, Rosie Miller        Expedition Date:  September 20, 2019

This National Monument in northeastern New Mexico is an extinct cinder cone volcano rising 2,494 feet high and part of a 8,000 square mile volcanic field.   As we were many miles away, the cone rises majestically in the distance.  You can see four different states from the one mile rim trail and great for stargazing.

Hiking Team: Rosie Miller, Dave Miller
Hiking Date:  1977, 2014, 2019

It’s not every day you can lay down on the ground and have your body be in three states at one time. I first visited here during my college years in 1977 when it was designated a state park. Today it has national historic park status. To reach this area where Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee all come together at one point, one must hike 1.7 miles on the winding and challenging Wilderness Road Trail and the Tri-State Trail. After finally cresting a large wooded hill the trail comes to a small shelter house. Under the shelter is concrete indicating the spot called Tri-State Peak where all three states touch. We took turns getting our picture taken laying on top of the spot.

The Cumberland Gap was made famous by explorer Daniel Boone whose party discovered the gap in 1769 in the dense, wooded mountains and paved a way to go north into Kentucky.