June 24, 2018

We woke up to another rainy day in South Dakota.  And it was cold.  So I made breakfast and we amended our plan to leave a day early.  Our plan was to return the rental car (and not get stuck in the mud), then drive to Wall Drug for lunch.  After Wall Drug, we would explore the Badlands before driving to a hotel in Sioux Falls.

For those unfamiliar with Wall Drug, it is the South of the Border of the Midwest.  You see signs for hours before you get there.  

After lunch we went outside and took pictures in their sculpture gallery.

Inside there was an animatronic T-Rex, which came to life and scared the crap out of my kids.

"It was a heathenish place to be in," Uncle Tom said... "I think that when God made the world He threw all the leftover waste into that hole."  
                                                                    ~These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder

This quote was all I really knew of the Badlands.  It's from one of my favorite books, and is said by the author's Uncle who was one of the first settlers to cross through the Badlands.  Now, Badlands National Park is visited by a million people each year.  Not to overstate the experience, but the Badlands is the place on this trip that changed me.  Seeing these amazing formations, made from dry sedimentary rock eroded by wind and water, was not only beautiful, but really stirred my soul.  Who knew I would turn out to be a nature lover?

If you find yourself at Badlands National Park, be sure to stop by the Ben Reifel Visitor's Center.  There is a cool exhibit explaining the formation of the rock.  It is also the home of the Paleo Lab.  Visitors find fossils in the park on a weekly basis, and the lab is where all fossils are cleaned and studied.  Now, these are not dinosaur fossils, but rather they are the bones of the prehistoric reptiles and mammals that lived in the area.

You may think that Wall Drug and the Badlands National Park would be enough to fill one day, but no!  We had another, less busy national site to visit. Rob was especially keen to visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.  Unfortunately, there is only one missile silo that you can actually go into and because of construction, the parking lot was not RV accessible.  So we had to settle with just the Visitor's Center, which Rob walked through quickly and declared he already knew this stuff.  Sigh.  I guess they gear these things towards people who are unfamiliar with our nation's nuclear defense strategies.  

Ok, now that's a full day!  We drove a few hours to Sioux Falls, SD to stay the night in a hotel.  The kids were very happy to swim and less happy to share the pull out couch. Tomorrow: we visit the falls, more driving, and we see some of Rob's pilot-training friends!

With Mt. Rushmore checked off our bucket lists, we still had most of the day left to explore the area.  On our drive in, we passed through the town of Keystone, which seemed full of ways to part tourists from their money.  Um, I mean, full of things to see and do!  

First, we rode a chair lift up a mountain and took the mountain coaster down.  

At this point we were STARVING, but all the restaurants opened at 11 and it was still only about 10:45.  So we killed a little time walking down their wild-west inspired boardwalk.  

​Finally it was time for lunch in the Old Timey Saloon!  The kids got their first taste of sarsaparilla, just like the pioneers drank.  ;)

Our next activity was visiting an actual gold mine from the 1800s, which included panning for gold (again).  When we told the kids this, Ryan said, "I made a wish that we could look for gold again!  Thank you for making my wish come true!!"  He was so excited, Rob and I really felt like rockstar parents!  

After mining, we returned to the camper and I made dinner.  Then we went into Rapid City for ice cream and it started to pour.  The kids and I passed the time in a toy store while Rob went to check in a beer. 

And that was the end of the longest vacation day ever!  Mt Rushmore in the morning, Keystone in the afternoon, and Rapid City for dessert.  Up next? We pull up chocks and head out for some free ice water!

We were off to Mount Rushmore early the morning of June 23.  A friend had told me the line to get into the parking garage can get long later in the morning, so we were there about 10 minutes after the monument opened.  We zipped right in and there were tons of empty parking spaces.  

Family selfie mostly accomplished, we went to the visitor's center and watched a brief movie about the making of Mt. Rushmore.  It was really interesting.  The monument was made by drilling holes, filling them with dynamite and then blowing off large chunks of rock.  The surfaces were then refined with chisels and smaller hand tools.

There is also a walk through display with tools that were used in the making of the monument.  I especially enjoyed learning about the men who carved the mountain (and not a single life was lost, despite the fact that they were hanging off the mountain in harnesses and using dynamite).  

Next we walked up the President's Trail to get a closer peek.  Half of the trail, and the sculptor's studio are closed until 2019 for refurbishment.  But we were able to get some cool views.

So... we've seen it.  Now what?  Well, before we could leave there was one more place I had to go.  The cafeteria!!  Rob thought I was crazy, as usual.  But fans of North by Northwest will know what I'm talking about.  I just had to see it!  Unfortunately it has been remodeled and modernized.  But it still has the familiar feel of the scene from the movie.

On the way back to the car, Anne wanted to do some more bouldering.  The signs, however, said stay off the rocks.  She and Rob went anyway.   Ryan (my little rule follower) was coerced to join them for a photo.  Then we hot-footed it out of there before the fuzz could show up.

Well folks, that's Mount Rushmore.  I never in my life thought I would see it and now I have.  The downside of going early?  We were done by 10:00.  Turns out once you see the mountain and the cafeteria you've seen it all. 

Fully relaxed after our "Ryan Day," we broke camp and drove the Four Winds to start exploring South Dakota.  The plan was to move to another campground closer to Mount Rushmore.  You see, we procrastinated in getting a campsite and couldn't find a campground that had a site for the whole time.  Oh well.  This first campground was nice and convenient to our first two stops.  Plus, doing it this way saved us money on the rental car.

First stop, Crazy Horse Memorial.  This was cool to see, although they charge a lot for an unfinished monument.  There was a great interpretive center, gift shop, and a model of the artist's workshop.

After the Crazy Horse Memorial, we drove through Custer State Park.  This place was so cool!! There was a wilderness viewing loop that was camper friendly.  We also stopped a few times for hikes (aka short walks in nature).

We stopped for lunch at the State Game Lodge.  While Calvin Coolidge was president, this hotel was known as the Summer White House because he came here every year.  We had bison burgers for lunch, which were pretty much dry hamburgers.

After lunch we turned our wagon, I mean camper, towards Rapid City.  First we were headed to pick up a rental car, and then we were off to the new campground.  Mother Nature decided to dump a ton of rain on us first, which crimped the rental car pick up.

When we arrived at the Enterprise rent a car after the rain storm, we saw that the parking lot was up on a hill.  The parking lot was also full.  But before the parking lot, there was a gravel road. Rob decided to pull into the gravel road instead of blocking the parking lot.  Except... it wasn't a gravel road, it was dirt.  And we got stuck.  Oops!  

With the camper unstuck and the rental car procured, we headed to the campground.  This place was our worst campground of the trip.  The campers were wedged in like the stepsister's foot in Cinderella.  Luckily we didn't have a "Ryan Day" planned at this place!  

After so much being on the go, we were ready for what we call a "Ryan Day."  You see, Ryan likes days where we don't do anything but hang out around the camper.  So our first day in South Dakota we didn't do anything but play at the playground, eat, and relax.  Trust me, no one was bored!  In fact, next year we plan to have one Ryan Day for each 3 days of sightseeing.  

June 20, 2018

We woke up and loaded the wagon, I mean camper.  It was time to leave Colorado and head into the open plains of Wyoming and South Dakota.  We had a rough idea of where the day would take us, but as usual, the reality of a thing is different than the planning of it.

Today's drive was not particularly long, so we took time to stop and smell the...um, prairie grass?  Back home when we were dreaming up this trip, days like this were what Rob and I both wanted.  To make the journey part of the destination.  First, we entered Wyoming, which is beautiful with mysterious buttes, longhorn cattle, and waving buffalo grass as far as the eye can see. 

I think I've mentioned this before, but prior to this trip, Rob and I both read books where the Oregon Trail played a prominent part.  So we are both interested in this period of American history.  It just has so much "scope for imagination" to think about the mass migration of people west.  Risking everything, including their lives, for the American dream.  When we realized we would be crossing the trail and coming close to Fort Laramie, we knew we had to add a stop! 

Our first stop was the Guernsey Ruts.  Uh, what?  Yes, we stopped to see some ruts.  Why, you ask?  Because here in Wyoming so many people crossed that they wore ruts into the rock.  Just close your eyes and imagine all the creaking wagons in a line.  The people, hot, tired, hungry, alert for natives.  We didn't just stop to see some ruts, we took our kids and stood in history.

After I was done, I took the kids on a short hike while Rob explored the ruts alone.  We also had Griffey with us.  I felt a jerk on the leash and Griffey, our mild mannered dog, was eating a mouse.  The mouse was also still moving.  EWWWWW!  I yelled for Rob and jerked Griffey until he dropped it.  Poor mousey, may he rest in peace.  And this is why I don't get out in nature much!

We drove a little while to Fort Laramie, which was a trading post for people on the trail.  Since it plays a role in both the books we read, we were keen to see it.  Plus, what kid doesn't love an old fort?

When we were done exploring the fort we continued on to South Dakota and arrived at our campground just in time to make camp and dinner.