Black Hills-Day 4 Custer State Park, Mammoth Site & Wind Cave

Our last full day in the beautiful Black Hills of SD takes us thru Custer State Park via the scenic Needles Highway and then down the Wilderness Loop. We also went thru the narrowest tunnel which was 8'4"-pretty cool! The girls had a great time climbing rocks and being adventurous. Emily led us down a pretty cool gorge-the bad thing was we had to climb back up! There were a couple rock climbers-these people are crazy! We also saw what happens when you misstep and take a header into a rock. A little boy did just that and had quite the bump on his head and scratches down his nose and lips. We came prepared for injuries so we lent them some neosporin and band-aids!






After we were done on the rocks we headed toward some wild life. Our first animal we spotted was a pronghorn. I thought they were pretty cool looking. Then we came up to a bunch of vehicles stopped on the side of the road and quickly realized what they were looking at. A bunch of Buffalo and even a few baby buffalo. They are huge! Then driving a bit more we came across some "wild" mules and they came right up to the car in front of us-I believe looking for a hand out and when they got nothing they headed to our vehicle. I rolled down the window and he put his head right in. I was freaking out!!!! So we thought this was a pretty cool experience until we drove down the hill and found a bunch in the field along with about 20 people who were standing right next to them feeding them and petting them. So much for being wild! And it clearly states as you enter the park-Do NOT feed the animals!



Our next stop is Mammoth Site in Hot Springs which is a bit of a drive but we figured it wouldn't take long. Except Custer State park is huge and lots of curvy roads that you can only go 35 mph on. We had to be to Mammoth by 2pm for the kids to participate in a dig. Well, it took only a while to realize that we wouldn't get there an hour before the dig like they asked us to instead we got there 30 minutes prior and the line to get in was long and only one person working tickets. Needless to say we missed the tour that we were supposed to take before the kids dug and ended up just going straight to the dig. It actually worked out great-Natalie was sleeping and we didn't have to do the tour if we didn't want to. The girls had a great time digging for their mammoth bone. It took about an hour and the "teenagers" in charge actually did a great job with the kids. We did end up taking the tour which was pretty interesting. After the fun here Brian got out his camping gear to make us a gourmet meal of mac-n-cheese right on a picnic table at Mammoth. We had to eat pretty quick because we would be touring the Wind Cave next.





The final leg of the trip would be Wind Cave. We took a 1-1/2 hr tour that took us 300 steps down narrow passage ways into really cool rooms that had boxwork on the ceiling. It basically looked like spider webs. This was a dry cave so no stalactites or stalagmites. It's amazing to me what the first explorer into the cave must have thought and why he continued on instead of going back. To me there is nothing exciting about crawling in itty bitty spaces using only a candle and using a large twine of string to find the way back. CRAZY!!!!!! The girls thought it was really cool and Natalie did surprisingly well. I was happy to be done with the tour though and see daylight again.


We were done with our site seeing and ready to get back to the hotel. When we got back into Custer, Brian stopped at this cute pie place called BobKats (the names of the owners put together) It was painted pink and purple and Rachel thought this was really cool. Brian and I had the best pie ever (Natalie was asleep!) and the girls had yummy ice cream cones. When we got back to the hotel Brian took the older 3 girls swimming while I stayed back with Natalie, who was still sleeping and would be for the rest of the night, and enjoyed the last night in peace and quiet watching a little HGTV.

The car ride home was pretty uneventful - except for missing our turn and driving thru Rapid rather than around it, which added time to the trip. Not what we wanted! We managed to get 47 states marked off our sheets. The only ones missing were Vermont, Rhode Island and Hawaii. Not bad. :) The girls enjoyed a couple movies, we stopped for a quick bite at the DQ and our last stop was the rest stop right as we entered MN. As we stretched our legs and let the kids run around a bit, grab a snack, and clean out the garbage out of the car, Rachel took a huge tumble on the sidewalk and scrapped up her knee, stomach and elbow. Thank God we still had a few band-aids left and good 'ol Neosporin. The last 2-1/2 hours were very quiet and that was icing on the cake! All in all it was a FUN, successful family trip to the Black Hills!

Black Hills-Day 3 Crazy Horse, Bear Country & Mount Rushmore

We set up camp in Custer at the Holiday Inn Express, which was lovely because we had a two-room suite. Girls in one room, Brian and I in the other. Well, at least for a few hours and then Natalie decided she'd be more comfortable between Brian and I. Not a big deal cause both beds were King size! We had a hearty breakfast, packed a lunch and headed out to our first stop, Crazy Horse.

The Crazy Horse memorial hadn't changed much from what Brian and I remembered from the last time we were there as kids and don't expect it to be finished in our lifetime. :) The highlight from this leg of the trip wasn't the memorial but instead the gigantic temper tantrum Natalie threw. All I can say is the kid is very stubborn.




As you'd expect, Natalie was exhausted from her tantrum so we headed to the car in the hopes she'd fall asleep and we would find a nice peaceful picnic area. We headed out of the parking lot and found a nice shaded spot perfect for our lunch. That took about 30 seconds and Natalie was fast asleep, missing lunch, which none of us cared about. :) After lunch we headed to Bear Country (about an hour drive-perfect for a quick nap)
Big Horn Sheep

Bears that were "wrestling" each other ;)



The bear cubs got birthday cake for a treat
After Bear Country, we headed to Mount Rushmore in the hopes we could mark off our remaining states we were missing and of course to see "The Heads". Oh, did I mention that Natalie had a temper tantrum at Bear Country too? How could we forget! She didn't want to ride in her stroller, she wanted to push it herself. And when that didn't happen she let us know she was not happy. Two year olds.....

So back to Mount Rushmore. We were able to find New Hampshire which was almost impossible to find. So we were starting off the trek on a good foot. Things sure looked different to Brian and I. It's amazing how close you can actually get to the memorial now. We started on a quick tour but found Natalie was not really into the facts of Mt. Rushmore so we meandered off on our own for the remaining tour. Back at the museum part, we watched a short video, which Natalie didn't feel like staying for either. I took her out but she was not happy and threw an even bigger fit than at Crazy Horse. Ok...this is her 3rd tantrum of the day. Starting to really wear at my nerves. But I stayed calm and brought her out by the amphitheater and let her scream. It must have annoyed the two ladies closest to us because they made a short glance my way and proceeded to move to the other side, which didn't matter because I'm pretty sure people back in MN could hear her! About that time Brian and the other girls came out and figured it was probably a good time to leave. We were getting hungry and obviously tired so we headed back to Custer. As we were almost out of Custer State park we saw a huge Buffalo on the side of the road. Pretty cool!

Black Hills or Bust-Day 1 & 2

We left Tuesday (21st) for our trip to the Black Hills as one big happy family. It would be our first big vacation far away from home, in the car for numerous hours... A couple hours into the trip Natalie showed signs of what the car ride could end up being. She wanted "out". The one thing that kept all of us sane was the fun in finding cars from different states and marking them down on our US map that I printed off for the girls and me. We had well over 30 states before we even got to Mt. Rushmore.


Our first stop was the famous "Corn Palace" in Mitchell, SD. As a kid I remember it being so big and a bit boring. As an adult it's small and still a bit boring. :) I think the kids were expecting a real palace(too many fairy tales perhaps) and were a bit disappointed when they saw it. The only exciting thing for them was the magnetic rocks at the gift shop. :) This years theme was "American Pride". The girls spotted the Freedom Riders mural and thought Grandpa Tom would appreciate it.




After the Corn Palace we headed to our hotel in Murdo for a good nights sleep. The next morning we headed to the Badlands. I had forgotten how beautiful the landscape of western SD was. The last time I was in that area was when I was a kid. Before entering the Badlands we stopped to see the Prairie Dogs. Natalie didn't know what to think of them! Caitlin tried really hard to get one to feed out of her hand but the dog just wouldn't do it.



We were pretty excited (or at least I was) to enter the Badlands. I just awe at what God has created. We had fun climbing some rocks and having a picnic lunch and just enjoying our surroundings as well as the wild life. The one "rock" that Brian, Caitlin and Rachel climbed was so high I was sure that one of our children or Brian would die if they fell. It was a bit windy that day so I wasn't completely out of my mind thinking this way. Emily was smart and stayed with Natalie and I and we tried not to look at the "brave" climbers. When Brian got back down with the girls he even mentioned how he was a little scared heading up there. Caitlin said she was a little freaked out too. As we continued thru the Badlands we stopped occasionally to check out anything we thought would be fun to see. Well in the "prairie" end Brian noticed a herd of animals off in the distance so Caitlin and I looked first thru the binoculars and saw hundreds of buffalo. This made everyone in the car excited so everybody took their turn to look and Brian who waited so patiently looked last. He actually got out of the car to look though. After he looked for a while he shook his head and looked back at the car with a funny smile. He got back in the car and I asked what was so funny and he says "those animals are cows, not buffalo". Oops!

Natalie had to climb by herself! "me do"
Caitlin cautiously climbing back down the mountain-do you see the straight shot down off to her right?????????
Brian's perspective looking out at the road and our car in the parking lot
If you can see, that is Emily, Natalie and myself seen from Brian's perspective from the big mountain.
This is the mountain they climbed. It's the dark brown one in the way back!!!

After our adventure in the Badlands we headed to Reptile Gardens (about an hour car ride) I was super excited to see the big tortoise I had ridden as a 4yr old. I'm sure its the same one since they live to be 120! Her name is Methusula. What a gentle giant. We took in an alligator/croc show which was cool and the girls even got to touch a little one. We also went to the bird show which wasn't quite as intense. :) We ended our day with ice cream of course! Its a must when you're on vacation!








What Brian and I would look like if we were little people.




Em and Natalie in the Prairie Dog bubble. The prairie dogs weren't real interested in people when we were there.