Hi!
We started out our drive at 3:30 am. We saw the sunrise in Wyoming!:
Our first real stop was at Independence Rock. It was a quick stop since it was right off the highway and because the mosquitoes were eating us alive by the rock!:
We stopped for a pizza lunch in Gillette and you guys were equal parts grossed out and amused with this Big Caesar:
Finally we made it to Devil's Tower:
It was pretty cool to see in person:
Fish and I decided not to do the full hike around the tower on Tower Trail. We worked on his junior ranger booklet while the other three kiddos made the trek:
We stopped for a picture outside the park and you guys made devil horns. Dad said "the little devils have found their tower."
After that we headed over to Deadwood. It is a pretty little town in a tiny valley in the black hills. There is a lot of history in Deadwood, including the resting places of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane in the Mt Moriah Cemetery:
(funny little devil faces on a bunch of graves):
Seth Bullock was a Sherriff and hotel owner and we hiked quite a ways out of the cemetery and up a mountain to find his grave. It was a pretty hike and it was cool to see his grave. Often people leave a rock or a coin when they have visited. See how many go out of their way to see this grave?
After visiting the graves we made it back to downtown Deadwood just in time to watch the mock shoot out. It started with all of the kids becoming junior deputies by repeating after the deputy in the middle:
The shootout was short and loud but it was fun to see!
Deadwood was a fun place to explore. I wished we had a little more time:
Fish finally fell asleep on the last leg of our journey to the hotel in Rapid City:
You were excited to swim at the hotel pool all three nights that we were there:
First thing the next morning after breakfast we made it to Mount Rushmore:
We were a little bummed that there is some major construction going on. We could still see the monument though:
The Presidential Trail was also open, so we took that up for a closer look at the presidents:
TJ, pointing out his favorite president who shares part of his name:
We also worked on Junior Ranger badges with your cousins:
Made some stretchy pennies:
And then earned those badges:
Next it was time to drive the pretty road to Custer State Park. It was twisty and went through lots of cool tunnels. The scenery was pretty amazing. Look at this view from Norbeck Overlook, you can see tiny Rushmore out there:
The kiddos loved climbing on the rocks:
We pulled off the road and followed a trail up into the forest and found the old mining town of Spokane. It's a ghost town now, with a few standing buildings, lots of old cars, a well, and a gravestone. This was one of my favorite places to explore!:
You guys climbed up to the second story in this rickety old house, not something I would have allowed without me or Dad checking it out first. I was busy taking pictures and not paying enough attention! I'm glad you didn't fall through the floor:
We had a lot of fun exploring the town and then we headed more into Custer State Park for a picnic and a dip in one of the lakes:
You guys really loved swimming there, and TJ was especially excited about the crawdad that Logan caught:
We swam for quite a while and then took the wildlife loop trail back towards Rapid City. We were kinda bummed that there wasn't a lot of wildlife out.
We saw a few deer and buffalo in the distance, and then we found the burros. We rolled the windows down and started to feed them carrots, since we read that carrots are their favorite treat:
Other kids were out of their cars so the boys decided to get out and feed this guy a few carrots:
He was very friendly. He even let you boys pet him!:
After that it was back to the hotel for swimming and a late dinner. Then off we went the next morning to find out about the nuclear missiles of the great plains. We started at the Minuteman Missile Visitor Center that had a movie, a cool museum, and of course junior ranger:
I learned a ton about the Cold War!
Next we headed towards the Badlands park when Dad saw this giant prairie dog and we knew we had to stop and take pictures with it:
That's when we noticed that people were also feeding the real resident prairie dogs peanuts, sold in bags at the neighboring store. Some kind people gave us the end of their bag of peanuts and let us try to feed them. Some of them were so fat and spoiled that they let you pet them, and they didn't even want to eat the nuts:
Others were a little more wary and we had to approach at a lower height. Some ran away when we got too close:
They make really funny noises when they're talking to each other.
It was so fun and cute. Thanks for stopping Dad.
Next stop, Badlands and two really fun hikes:
The first one started out with a boardwalk on a trail called The Door:
and then we were climbing all over the rocks. You guys loved it:
It was super desolate:
but pretty in it's own way, especially when you could see some of the prairie grass in places:
It was so hot. You guys were troopers:
The second hike we did was called Notch trail. It wandered through the grasses and past some muddy spots:
and then we had to climb this cool ladder:
We all made it to the top. I was going to turn around with Fish but we decided to go on and were rewarded with an amazing view at the end:
I was very impressed with these short but fun hikes. Badlands was way more beautiful than I was expecting.
Next up was a picnic and some junior ranger fun, then driving through the park and seeing the cool rock shapes.
We headed North and found the missile silo that people can tour:
See the missile down there, with the white sharp head? That head is of course a replica but that's what a nuclear bomb on a missile looks like:
There used to be thousands of these throughout South Dakota, buried on peoples farms:
There was one control room for every 10 missiles and there were two guys always ready to push the button if needed. Most of the missiles are gone now, it was cool to see where one used to be.
Right by the missile site is the town of Wall, known for Wall Drug Store. We had to stop and check it out:
It was full of little stores selling clothes and toys and candy and souvenirs. So strange and eclectic:
We had to take our pictures on the jackalope of course!:
And then we found the animatron T-rex. He was roaring loudly when we first saw him so TJ was quite worried about getting a picture right under his mouth, even though Dad assured him many times that the sign says he only roars every 12 minutes:
Another fun picture spot outside:
After we saw the animatron gorilla singing and playing the piano, we were done with the quirkiness and headed back to Rapid City. We checked out the presidential statues downtown, spaced out on different corners. Each kid chose their favorite president and got their picture by him.
We found this cool graffiti/ art alley way too:
At this point we were so hot and tired that the thought of the cold hotel pool beckoned us back. We had dinner too and packed up so we could check out the next morning after breakfast.
We saw Crazy Horse from the road as we headed to Jewel Cave. This was as close as we got since it actually is quite pricey to enter the memorial site:
Another Junior Ranger to do! All 4 of you did it here because you could earn a patch in addition to the typical badge:
We really enjoyed the tour. Look how many kiddos got to go! Luke was too little, he stayed behind with his Dad. But the rest of us took the elevator down to the cave:
You guys did great with the hour and a half tour. It was cold, and there were lots of stairs. You loved seeing how cool the formations are:
Hammer, the future spelunker:
Yep, all 4 of you earning your patches:
I wanted to check out the original entrance, about a mile up the road. That was cool too. TJ was pretty ticked that he didn't get to go in and see more cave from here!:
From there it was a long drive to Martin's Cove. We were excited to stop and take a look around:
It was really fun to pull handcarts around the little park area:
It was a pretty little place:
I liked reading you guys the stories in the visitor center too. It was hard not to cry when you read about all of the suffering. We decided not to hike out to the Devil's Gate since we were already ready for dinner!
From there it was a long drive home and you guys did awesome! We stopped for burgers:
and then made it home at midnight.
We did a lot of driving and there was very little fighting or whining or complaining. I was super impressed. It makes me more ready to say yes to other road trips! Of course, not much longer than this one took. We drove 27 hours over the 4 days! We all had a great time and Fish keeps telling me that he misses our trip. You guys are fun to travel with.
Until our next adventure!
Love,
Mom
