South Dakota

Recently Green and I decided that once each of our children turned 8 we would take them on their very own vacation.  Well, Yellow picked Washington DC.  We were so excited and then we found out how much a brand new white vinyl fence was going to cost, so we went to South Dakota instead.  Hubby and I had both gone with our families when we were about 11 or so and had great memories of the trip.  Here are the memories we created with our oldest.

Day 1:
We left Green River, WY after leaving our other three with their Grandma.  Said our prayers that they'd be good and hit the gas!!!  Our first stop was Sun Ranch in Wyoming.  Here The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a visitors center all about the Willie and Martin Handcart Companies.  What a great start to our trip. We felt the Spirit and were so grateful that we had a car that would haul us and that we didn't have to pull our belongings to wherever we were going.  (Highly recommend this stop)    The ring on my finger is a "Prairie Diamond".  My best guy on the range gave it to me.
                                                       

Next on to Independence Rock.  The most striking and famous landmark on the Oregon Trail.  Called by some,"register of the desert."   When the pioneers would pass by this rock they would carve their names into the stone. Some names can still be seen. It was a SUPER windy day, but what do you expect in Wyoming?

Now on to the good part.  DRIVING and DRIVING and DRIVING.  Wyoming is not well known for its scenic drives through this area.  It is called the Big Horn Basin and is just miles upon miles of open plains, sagebrush, cattle and oil wells.  I wanted to stop and get a picture with an oil well and some cattle so I could pay homage to Sue Ella Ewing (DALLAS folks) but it was not to be. Here is what I was able to capture with the little camera while Green put down his lead foot.                                                                                  

Random bear sighting in Wyoming!!

South Dakota:  Mount Rushmore State 

 40th State in the Union

Under God the People Rule

 

Crossed the state line that night.  Looking forward to sleep and then more adventures. 

This is what the Black Hills National Forest looks like between Custer,SD and Newcastle,WY. About two years ago a fire started in these hills and did alot of damage.  The fire was named the Jasper Fire.  (All you Twilight fans have to understand how Jasper could start a fire.)                                                     

 This is all right around Custer, South Dakota.  (Throughout this trip I mispronounced numerous names.  Luckily I have a very lingual husband and he corrected me.  I supposedly called Custer, "Custard"  I do know that  Yellow called it "Cluster." )

 DAY 2:                                                                      

We spent the night in Custer.   We stayed in a cute little motel.   Because Sun Ranch had some mannequins Yellow was scared.   (He tends to get scared very easily.)   I was the lucky one that got to sleep with the "little  heater".   Then we woke up and Green realized that his debit card was not in his wallet.   We had to drive back to Wyoming to Newcastle (about 30 min drive) to get his card. Hence the Wyoming sign followed by ANOTHER South Dakota sign.                                                             

Now we are FINALLY off to see Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore.  This was another day in the car, but we didn't go far.  Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse are pretty close to each other.  We took The Needles Highway and got "NEEDLED".  I was so surprised that things we did for free when I was a kid you now have to pay for, like driving on a road.  *QUICK RANT:  We had to pay a tourism tax, a fee to park, a lodging tax, not to mention a tax on any purchases we made and we STILL had to pay to drive on this Highway.*  All and all it was a very pretty drive.  Here is Crazy Horse.... 

    

As you can see they have a long way to go before it is finished.  What you see took 50 yrs.  The finished sculpture will be 563 ft.tall. 

  My lands are where my dead lie.~ Crazy Horse

VERY interesting place to visit.   I learned a lot about Indian/White relations.  Again you had to pay to get in, but I enjoyed myself.  The man who sculpted Crazy Horse has a ton of other sculptures on display.  What a talented guy!

   

Off to Mount Rushmore.  Like I said earlier we went on The Needles Highway.  Some very fun tunnels to drive through.  Just make sure your driver has a steady hand and nerves of steel.

         I had to make this one big so that you could see Mount Rushmore in the background.    This drive is also in Custer State Park.  Lots to see, but I'll spare you the pictures and let you imagine it.

As you can see Yellow is all ramped up from being confined in a car.  His dad and I were ready to feed him to the bears, but that was going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Day 3:

We spent the night in Rapid City. Then this morning we work up bright and early to drive to Wall,South Dakota  home of Wall Drug.  (No I didn't pick up anything good there)  I remember going there when my family visited South Dakota so I had to take my vacation buddies.   

Green met someone he could relate to.

  Yellow and I met a new friend too.  We also ran into some Indians and a pioneer girl.

Takin' the bull by the horns!!

After a fun filled hour in Wall we drove BACK to Rapid City so that we could visit Cosmos, Bear Country USA and Reptile Gardens.  For those of you unfamiliar with Cosmos it is a little po-dunk spot off the interstate where you are able to spend MONEY and get a tilted perspective on life in general.  Pretty fun!!  Yellow  wants to go back and be a tour guide there.   

No we had NOT been drinking,and this is not a trick with the camera. If you would have stood up straight you would have fallen backwards.  Part of the"MYSTERY" of Cosmos.

Next onto Bear Country USA.  I LOVED this place. You are supposed to keep your windows rolled up the entire time, but being the rebel that I am I left mine down.  Our closest encounter was with a  bear. He got about three feet from the car and I knew I'd never get my window up fast enough.   There were lots of other animals besides bears, but who cares about an elk when a bear is 3 feet from your car. 

**Side note for our friend Rob Watterson:  AMBIEN was taken on this trip, this was the only bear bum we saw!**

Birds of a Feather. . .

Baby skunk. AHHHHH   EWWWWW

 Next was Reptile Gardens.  I know, I know, how could we possibly fit anymore fun into this one day, but we did.  We saw. . . reptiles.  Lots of snakes, crocs, alligators and turtles.  They also have birds.  Here is what we saw.  Pay special attention to the wildlife they keep in bubbles.

Oh, while in Rapid City Green caught a fish and it was this big . . .  

Day 4:

This is all getting fuzzy.  We did too much and now I am at a loss at what exactly we did.  Good thing there are pictures to remind me.  Yellow"s favorite President of the United States is Theodore Roosevelt.  We were lucky enough to catch up with him for a quick photo.  Then we went to the dinosaur park where I got stepped on by an Allasaurous and Yellow got into a fist fight with T-Rex.

We then drove to Deadwood, SD.  It is where Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back while playing poker.  This town is a lot like Jackson Hole,WY except it has slots in EVERY building.  We did see Herbie, Magnum PI's Ferrari.  After Deadwood we headed back into Wyoming to visit Devil's Tower.                                After all of that fun we drove to Thermopolis (Hot City in Greek). 

Day 5: 

We spent the night there and then went swimming the next day.  The area has several Hot Springs that are used to heat the pools.  They have an outdoor and indoor pool. We had fun. Then headed back to the Big GR to pick up the other three kiddies from Grandma's house.  Finally reached Home SWEET Home around 8 pm that night.  That was the trip.  Thanks for coming along!!!!

Y'all  come back now, hear!