Our Summer Road Trip

We decided some time ago that we wanted to take the kids to Mt. Rushmore. Since Paul grew up in South Dakota I felt it was important for the kids to experience what he saw and did on road trips during his youth. After all, they have driven across Nevada on their way to California too many times to count. It only seemed fair that they were given a chance to drive across Wyoming.

Monday morning we got a pretty early start and headed out right on time. Things went really smoothly. We stopped here and there (I have to give credit to Wyoming for having dang nice rest stops.) but still made good time. We rolled into Gillette right at dinnertime. We ate at Perkins. It’s a Denny’s type restaurant that still has a smoking section. What a shock! I am so glad that smoking indoors is against the law here. After that we went to our hotel, which was lovely and incredibly modern by the way,

and played at their water park.

It was just what the kids, heck, all of us needed after being in the car most the day. We had a few accidents on the water slides. They were very swift with tight turns. One accident resulted in a bloody nose for Andrew and another dished out a gruesome bruise for me when Emma and I capsized our tube and I caught the handle with my thigh. Yeouch!

My bruise is the same shape as one of those handles.

Tuesday morning we made our way to Devil’s Tower. It was really cool looking and the kids got a kick out of the Indian Legend that explained why it has to grooves going up the sides. (For those that don’t know, that is where the bear clawed at the mountain that was growing to save seven girls. They then became the Pleiades.) We opted out of driving the extra miles to go to Montana. We would only be going because we wanted to add another state to our list of states we had been to. Unfortunately I didn’t get to add any new states on this trip. We just didn’t have it in us to drive any further.

After Devil’s Tower we got to South Dakota. We went to lunch where our waiter told us to make sure to make it to Custer State Park. We checked into our hotel and then decided that we would go to Mt. Rushmore through Custer. I wanted to see buffalo. We went, and we got to see a whole heard of buffalo! It was so cool. They were eating and the sounds that they made while eating were really…interesting. It was almost alien. (Because everyone knows what that sounds like.) Once they started crossing the road, toward us, we got in the car and headed toward the faces.

We also saw a lot of these antelopes on our trip.
We got stopped by a pack of donkeys. See it begging Paul for food?

We went a different way that took us through three tunnels to see the faces. That was way cool. If anyone goes make sure you see them for the first time this way! It creates such a built up. I loved it.

I know you can't tell, but through this tunnel we caught our first glimpse of the faces in the distance.

This is right on the other side of a tunnel. They're getting closer! When we finally caught a good look the kids exclaimed “The drive was so worth it!” It’s one of those things you just have to see to believe. It is very impressive.

There they are!!! We got there right as the sun was going down.
Emma by all the flags.
Our family
Dang it I wish that lady wasn't over there.

We waited around until dark where we saw the nighttime show they put on. We were able to say the Pledge of Allegiance with Mt. Rushmore as a backdrop! After that we listed to a speech about adversity and then watched the movie about the presidents and how Mt. Rushmore was made. They slowly lit the faces up and then we all stood and sang the National Anthem. Both Paul and I had tears. It was such a special moment. It was a feeling I will never forget.

We got back late and hit the sheets to prepare for our big day at Wall Drug.

Wednesday was Wall Drug day. The kids were so looking forward to this. It is just a big store full of all kinds of crap. Every souvenir you can imagine, photo ops galore,

This is their new T Rex that comes alive every 12 minutes

I wanted to stick this in with the other buffalo pictures but opted not to ;)

interactive things for kids of all ages (This was fun. They put you in this little dark room that looks like a mine shaft and the only light is from the kid's helmet. You have to find all the polished rocks that they had hidden around.)


More photo ops


Paul remembers this one being around when he was a kid
The 6' tall Jack-a-Lope = more photo ops

and food to boot! You can get a meal there (That’s where I ate buffalo for the very first time. Yes that is a buffalo burger. It taste like chicken. Kidding. It tastes like beef!) as well as donuts and candy.

The donuts are yummy but so so dense and rich. We felt them in our bellies days later. Okay that is a slight exaggeration but I have never struggled to finish a donut before. That was a first for sure!
After Wall we hit the cute little Rushmore Mall. (Paul left his shower mirror he uses for shaving in Gillette and we were hoping to find another one) I will tell you that you can get screaming deals on modest clothes at the Gap in Rapid City! I had a fabulous time shopping there.

We also hit a few other stores including a gorgeous TJ Maxx. Yes, that’s right, a gorgeous TJ Maxx. It was brand new, super clean, well stocked and full of great stuff. We found Paul his shower mirror as well as a couple of ties and shirts for Emma and me.

Thursday we chose to go to Retile Gardens before going back to Mt. Rushmore. It was really warm that day but we survived. We went to the alligator show, bird show and snake show. The birds were our favorite because, well I like birds. We got to meet Methuselah who is a 128-year-old tortoise. We also got to pet a baby alligator named fluffy and see prairie dogs.

They too had photo ops.

Apparently I looked too happy
Is this better?
The kids went sleuthing for minerals (this wasn't as much fun as the one we did at Wall Drug)

This is fluffy
Here are some of the stars of the bird show.



A prairie dog
Methuselah

Isn't this snake beautiful? I loved it most of all.
They had a cool dome that housed orchids, birds and some of the most poisonous snakes in the world.
I could have stayed for hours taking pictures of birds and flowers.



Their grounds were lovely.

Our trip back to the faces was a joke. Andrew was being a putz. He was hungry, he was hot, he was cold, he was basically making our lives hell because we were doing something he didn’t want to do. He wanted to go to the hotel and play at the water park. After having an old time photo made in Keystone (We all enjoyed that) we went back to the hotel so we could all cool off in the water. We need to work on Andrew though. I am getting pretty sick of his manipulation. We played at the water park for a while before it closed and then we started getting ready for our departure the next morning.

He did think the Coke machines were cool enough to take a picture in-front of however.
One last shot.

Friday morning we got up and got on the road for our journey to Casper Wyoming. We had clocked a lot of miles and the kids’ patience was wearing thin. We got to our hotel right before they killed each other.

Okay another slight exaggeration. We went to dinner and then let the kids play in the hotel pool. After two hotels with water parks in them the tiny hotel pool was pretty boring but it helped them get out some energy.

Saturday we headed home. It was a long ride and Andrew made it seem even longer. He just couldn’t keep himself occupied. It was hard finding movies that each one would watch, their DS’s had been used to death, they had read all their books, they were just flat out bored. Miraculously we made it home all in one piece. Our house was still standing and Marius was still alive. Our trip was a success!!! It’s good to be back home to civilization.

1857.2 Miles later, We're Home!

I will post a lot more later (did you doubt that?) but for now, WE'RE HOME! I never thought I would say this, ever, but I am truly happy back to be back in Utah where we have cell service, 3G network, non-smoking restaurants, and high speed internet. Ah, civilization. It's grand.