Saturday: Ron and Jackson checked out the pool in the morning and then we headed out to see the Corn Palace, which was not all that exciting. But we did end up at the Perhistoric Indian Village in Mitchell, and thought that was well worth the stop. They are uncovering an old Indian Village, underground. Then we headed for Wall Drug where we had an overpriced lunch, but enjoyed the time running around the store. In the backyard at Wall Drug there is a dinosaur that wakes up every 12 minutes and makes quite the ruckus... scared Jackson to death! He rode on wagon trains, mechanical donkeys, drank some free water and burned off some energy before we headed to Rapid City. In Rapid City we found Bear Country USA. We had so much fun driving through the campus to see buffalo, elk and bear. After the short drive we walked through the baby animals display. Jackson could have spent an hour in front of the bear cubs, watching them play.
Sunday: After spending bit of time at the pool we headed to The Reptile Gardens where Jackson was thrilled to see snakes, and alligator show, giant tortoise and prairie dogs. After that we headed out to see Mt. Rushmore. While there it started to rain a bit, but it was just a quickly passing storm. We ate lunch in Keystone at a cute little deli. We got back in the car for the meandering trip through Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park. Jackson fell asleep shortly into the trip, but Ron and I enjoyed the beautiful drive finding donkeys, buffalo, antelope and prairie dogs on the way. Jackson woke up just in time to see the donkey that came right up to our window hoping for food. After checking in to our hotel in Hot Springs, we ate dinner in town and heading back north to see the lighting ceremony of Mt. Rushmore. The drive back to the hotel in the dark was a bit scary, hundreds of dear lined the dark winding roads, but thanks to Ron we made it home safely.
Monday: We stated our day at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, an archeological site of a mammoth dig. Then went to Custer to the National Woodcarving Museum, which wasn't really national. Some of the woodcarving exhibits talked back to you when you put in the wooden nickel, but these were pretty scary for the boy, so he spent a lot of time in Mom's arms. Then we headed out to see Crazy Horse, though Jackson thought we were heading to see "crazy horses". We took a bus ride up to the mountain, which Jackson just loved doing. He was a good little boy on the bus and sat still, looking out the window. We were able to take a rock from the mountain in which Crazy Horse is being carved. Then we went to Hill City for lunch at a cute 50s dinner. It began to rain during our late lunch, so after we piled in the car and headed south again to our hotel in Hot Springs. After a few packed days we were mighty tired and napped in our hotel room. We decided to have a mellow night, since it was raining anyway, we spent some time swimming in the pool. After drying off, we stopped at the local Pamida so Ron could get more socks, and we bought a barrel of monkeys to play in our room. We spent the last hours of the evening in our room eating dinner and playing games.
Tuesday: It was off to The Badlands! We headed back east through the badlands, taking the scenic route there. We saw loads of wildlife again and when we hit the badlands, we were thrilled. We got out at a few scenic overlooks and took pictures. We had lunch at Cedar Pass Lodge and checked into our hotel, a great little cabin IN the badlands! After a nap in the cabin we headed out for some hikes in the badlands, keeping our eyes out for rattlesnakes.
Wednesday: We got up early in the morning to begin making the long drive to Milbank, SD to see our friends the Hellers. Our first stop was for gas, after a somewhat hectic search for a gas station. Then for a Dairy Queen lunch. And other than that we spent much of the day in the car making our way to Milbank. Where we were met with a wonderful dinner and great friends, and the cutest little baby!
Thursday: Another morning of getting on the road, but this time to head to our home.
4 comments:
Glad you had such a nice trip. We did the same with you put you were a little older.
Wow it seems like when you take that trip everyone sees the same thing. I remember that Dino! hehe I wonder if we will ever see the finish of the Indian in our lifetime.
I am so glad that you were able to take the time for this trip and to create memories that will last you a lifetime. I remember our trip to the Black Hills when you were little and cherish the memories to this day.
Great to hear about your trip! Hill City is my dad's hometown, it was fun to see you stopped there. I know it quite well.
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