South Dakota: Day 4

Our fourth day in South Dakota started with another early sunny morning. We planned to spend the entire day in Custer State Park area, with time spent on Needles Highway and in Sylvan Lake. 

What an amazing day it was! Our first stop was the Visitor's Center where a kind man gave great advice for finding bison and burros. As we wound through the road on the Wildlife Loop, we were so excited at the number of buffalo we saw right away. It was so cool!

Next we came upon a pack of burros, and it was immediately obvious how much these burros had been fed by visitors. We were surrounded until we pulled out a bag of Audrey's cereal, which was devoured instantly. We used goldfish next, and those were gone in seconds as well.

We continued on for another PB and J picnic lunch, and then made our way through Needles Highway. The scenery was unbelievable, especially the narrow passageways, which only one car could fit through at a time. Memories of the beautiful scenery will be cemented in our minds forever!

Our day ended with some beach time at Sylvan Lake. Again, the scenery was gorgeous, and the cool water felt great on this hot day! We picked up some ice cream on the way home, which was the perfect treat for our tired, but happy bodies! 😁

Other Pipe

For a quick break in our vacation posts, here is a Kate thought for you to ponder. Last week she took a drink and immediately started coughing. When I asked if she was okay, she said, "Yeah. It just went down the wrong pipe. I don't get it, Mom. If one is the 'wrong pipe', why do we even have it?"

We love you, Kate!

South Dakota: Day 3

We started bright and early again on the third day, thanks, in part, to Mountain Time! We headed for Mount Rushmore, and again, it was so wonderful to watch the experience through the girls' eyes. A lot of questions were asked, explanations were given, and the girls just seemed to soak it all in. 

We took a short hike on the trail, which allowed for us to examine everything from a different view, including being able to look up George Washington's nose!

We then left Mount Rushmore and headed for a picnic lunch at a nearby park. The park had a small stream and play equipment, which made for a quaint little lunch spot on a gorgeous day!

After lunch, we headed to a nearby adventure park, and we had an awesome afternoon. Geeka even joined us, which Aud said was her favorite part! We tried a chair lift, Alpine slide, and a tube slide.

Everyone loved the chair lift and Alpine slide, but the tube slide was a lethal combination of thrilling and terrifying. The first time down, poor Kate was completely traumatized. I can still see the look on her face as she got off the ride! She was so certain she wasn't going to go again, so she stood on the side with Geeka. After watching a few more minutes, she decided she could do it again. She ended up using both of her remaining rides and grew to love it. We were all so proud of her!

It was a perfect day for us in South Dakota, and we went to sleep very tired that night!

South Dakota: Day 2

Our second day of the trip began with a fairly early start to the day, especially when we crossed into Mountain Time and gained an hour. We had to make a pit stop in Wall after seeing billboards for hundreds of miles! Besides browsing through a few shops, we were told by a chatty employee at the Corn Palace to make sure and get some donuts. We grabbed some to have for breakfast the next day.

We continued driving, then, and made our next pit stop at Badlands National Park. What gorgeous land we saw there! We did some hiking, took A LOT of pictures, and were amazed by some up close animals. Our sweet girls were so excited about everything in the park! Well, everything that is except the bathrooms. 😉

Here are a few of the pictures:

South Dakota: Day 1

Last week we took off for a week long trip to South Dakota. After a few bumps before we took off (deer colliding with my car, no rentals available, etc.), we took off in an appropriately sized rental packed full with our supplies. 

The first day we drove to Mitchell, SD. We immediately went to the Corn Palace, which wasn't that impressive to the girls. They looked around at the beautiful artwork created with corncobs very quickly and were immediately ready to head to the hotel for a night of chips, salsa, and swimming.  We went to bed happy, full, and ready for the next leg of our journey!

Someone tried really hard to go with us! 

Audrey tried to recreate a picture from when she was a baby.