Well the Crazy Family just got back from a whirlwind trip to the badlands of South Dakota. D wanted to get out of town and so we did. Of course it was a long trip (10 hours there, 14 hours home) but worth the drive. We all saw carved mountains, caves of jewels, an alien mountain, and a crazy theme park with Fred and Wilma (although, only from a distance).
Mount Rushmore was great. It is truly an awesome sight to see these heads that were carved by men hanging off the side of a mountain.
Here are the kids in front of the Utah flag as you walk up to the mountain. We walked around the monument taking pictures of the faces from different angles. We then walked down to the studio where the man who created rushmore lived and worked. They had a cool model of what the mountain was supposed to look like when it was done.
After Mount Rushmore we went to Crazy Horse which is what will be a huge memorial to the Native Americans. When it is finished all of the heads from Rushmore will fit in the head of crazy horse. It was very neat. They have a museum and native american cultural center and during the day artisans sell their wares inside the buildings. We missed the booths as we went just before dark as they do a lazer light show on the mountain which we wanted to see. Boo got a couple of cool pictures of the mountain at night but my camera did not like the dark. We went back the next day so that the kids could shop at the booths. They had some really nice jewelry, carvings and blankets for sale.
This is a model of what the mountain will look like if they ever finish it. It is three dimensional and will be the biggest statue or carving in the world. There is no government funding for the monument it is all funded by donations and gate fees that they charge to see the monument.
We also went to Bear Country. I was disappointed in it as we did not see much wildlife but the kids really liked it. It is a big drive through park with animals and then at the end there is what they call "babyland" where they have cute baby animals. There were a lot of bears and this is one just sunning himself on a big rock. Bears walk right up to your car and wander around this huge enclosure.
This is a shirt that D and I wanted at Bear Country. Ty bought herself one but it was a bit expensive for me.
South Dakota is also full of really cool caves. We toured the second longest cave in the world called Jewel Cave that they have mapped at over 150 miles so far with no end in sight. It was a great tour and we saw some neat formations. This time I forgot the camera so I don't have any cool pictures from inside the cave.
The Flinstones theme park was across the street from our hotel. We did not go in but took some pictures of it.
On our way home we detoured to Devil's Tower in Wyoming. We did not actually make it into the park but took some cool pictures just outside. I loved all of the alien stuff in the gift shops.
We had tried to stop at Independence Rock on our way to Rushmore but it was so windy that we did not get out of the car. On the way back the weather was much better so we stopped and walked to the rock.
The little dots at the top of the rock are Boo and Bear who climbed to the top of the rock. They saw some of the signatures and said the view from the top was great. Of course Boo forgot a camera so we don't have any pictures from the top.
It was a fun mini vacation that was very needed. There was a lot of stuff that we did not get to do. We wanted to tour more of Custer State Park as there are some neat stuff to do there and there was activities at Deadwood and Lead that we did not get to do. Rapid city has some fun stuff to do and we did not make it to Wall Drug. I guess we will have to go back some day. All I know is Wyoming is a really long state with a whole of nothing but wind and grassland. After driving across it I have new respect for my pioneer heritage.
And many more birthdays to come!
