Mental Health Charity Lyft Drive Day 12: 930 Miles Mount Rushmore
- Today (July 4):
- Miles Driven: 930
- Cities: 1
- Time Taken: 16.5 hours
- Total:
- Miles Driven: 8315
- Cities 39
- Time Taken: 167.0 hours
- Read more about my trip across 65 Lyft cities here:
- How you can support or donate:
I woke up around 7am outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. I didn’t think it would be busy in Lincoln at 1:30am so I decided to call it night. The temperature was very moderate once again so I didn’t need to keep the car running or anything.
I got into Lincoln around 9am and checked out their downtown and busy bar area hoping to get passengers for brunch. Well, 8am is just way too flipping early, especially for the morning of 4th of July when everyone is hung over. I received a ping about 10 minutes later from a residential address nearby. As you can see, it was a long drive to the pickup. I was in the downtown area and drove about 4 miles to pick her up. She wanted a ride into downtown where she parked her car. She noted how she had trouble getting a Lyft at 1:30am, which I thought was a bit surprising. I never knew it would be that busy in Lincoln.
Once I was done with the trip, I made a beeline to Mount Rushmore. I knew it would take almost all day so I drove directly there. One of my twitter followers tweeted me to say that driving through the Sandhills would be very scenic, and it definitely was. Here is a picture from Wikipedia. I did a time lapse of my entire drive through, but no one picture captured this scenery quite as nicely as this picture. This part of the drive kicked off some of the most scenic drives I ever seen, going from here all the way down to San Diego through Salt Lake City and Phoenix.
Just a few miles from Mount Rushmore, I saw the small tourist town adjacent to it.
I got there around 6pm and managed to get a few pictures of Mount Rushmore from the small parking area before it. There is a tourist center right across from Mount Rushmore, but it was a little busy so I didn’t stop inside the park itself. The line only stretched a few cars into the main road and for 4th of July, I don’t think it was that bad. I got there later in the day and I think everyone was trying to get into the park to see the Night Ceremonies that run daily there. I may go back there during the offseason in the Fall to go into the park and see the night ceremonies. The lighting condition wasn’t ideal for picture taking either as the sun was right behind Mount Rushmore, which would create big shadows across the face.
After I left, I made my way down to Salt Lake City. On the way, I passed by something called Crazy Horse. I didn’t think much of it until I saw a friend and he told me about the history of it. It is supposed to be bigger than Mount Rushmore but it is only about 1/4 done. It will be part of my next trip when I spend a few days in the area.
I passed by a sign for Mammoth Hot Springs, so I took a short detour to go check it out. It was a hot spring many thousands of years ago during the ice age. Mammoths came to drink the water or eat some of the grass growing around the hot spring, but some fell in and couldn’t get out. Over time, the hot springs dissolved the minerals in the bones and formed a cement around the bones. As more and more animals fell in, the hot spring was completely filled to the brim. Then years of erosion left the mound exposed until 1970 when a development found the bones.
I spent an hour taking the tour and left around 8pm. I headed towards Denver, but I got there around 1am so I stopped at a motel parking lot and slept for the night.
How Can You Help?
I have set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise additional money for charity. It will be running for the next few months. Below is the link to the campaign:
GoFundMe Rideshare Dashboard Mental Health Drive
Even a dollar will go a long way so give what you can and it will be deeply appreciated!
You can also help by emailing ridesharedashboard at gmail.com with travel advice, what to see in each of the below cities and your best food recommendations. I have traveled extensively abroad, but I will be visiting many of these states for the first time.
Want to Know Where I am now?
I will continue to post regular updates of my trip on my Facebook Page and my Twitter feed so look there to keep track of where I am! I usually move through 4-6 cities a day so I’m definitely a moving target.
Have more questions about Uber or Lyft? Head on over to our Rideshare Driver Training Course! Driver Promotions- New Uber Drivers will get up to a $800 bonus after signing up: Sign up for Uber.
- New Lyft Drivers will get up to $800 if you sign up here using this link.
