Trip

Well, we had a fun visit to South Dakota over the holiday weekend. In order to maximize our time, we left on Friday night after Scot got home from work. We made it to Torrington, Wyoming the first night and stopped in a hotel there. We had to separate the kids so we each got to spend the night being poked and kicked by restless sleepers. Apparently Declan was snoring, also, but he was with Scot that night! We got up bright and early in the morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and then got back on the road to Rapid City. We crossed the border into South Dakota around 11, and decided to stop at Custer State Park on the way since we couldn't check into the hotel until 3 anyway. We stopped at the visitor's center and had a picnic lunch, since we had brought the cooler and some food. They were going to do a gold-panning demo, so we did that before driving around the wildlife loop. That's where we saw a bunch of buffalo (bison?) walking along the side of the road. We drove without seeing anything more, until we were beset by a herd of friendly mules. They were sticking their heads in the car window. We got out of the car to visit with them for a little bit, and then didin't see much else until the prairie dog area near the end of the loop. We also saw some bighorn sheep along the main road. We found a scenic overlook, and then figured it was time to get back on the road to Rapid City. We ended up getting to the hotel around 5, I think. We had dinner at Denny's and then took the kids down to the water park to swim. The hotel was pretty big and we were constantly getting lost trying to find our way to and from the pool area. I guess we weren't the only ones, because I passed some ladies on the way to the ice machine and they asked if I had left bread crumbs behind me. lol Sunday we planned to see Mt. Rushmore in the evening so we could see it lit up, so we decided to check out the Reptile Gardens and the Cosmos Mystery Area. We spent the morning/early afternoon at the Reptile Gardens, then headed back to the hotel for more swimming before going to Mt. Rushmore. We were going to stop at the Cosmos Mystery area on the way, but it was really crowded and the wait for the next tour was pretty long. We decided to skip it and come back to it later. Turns out we probably could have waited since there wasn't a lot to do at Mt. Rushmore. We walked around the trail and looked at the exhibits, then killed some time by eating since the lighting ceremony didn't start until 8 p.m. They showed a little movie and then lit up the faces. She called everyone down to the stage who was a veteran, so Scot reluctantly went down for that. He is not much for ceremony or attention, but they all just stood there while the flag was folded up and the park ranger thanked them for their service. We headed back to the hotel for bed. We decided to head to Devil's Tower on Monday, with a stop at Deadwood along the way. I wasn't sure about Devil's Tower, but Scot wanted to see it, and I'm glad we did go. It was the only day that was cold, so I figured it was a good day to do a lot of driving! We looked at a museum in Deadwood, stopped in front of the saloon where Wild Bill was shot, and then checked out the cemetary, which was on a steep hill. Since we watched the show Deadwood, it was fun for us, but not sure the kids cared too much. We stopped in Lead to check out the big open mining cut and have some lunch. Then we drove on to Devil's Tower, which was pretty cool up close. We walked around the base, had a snack, and then headed back to Rapid City and arrived by dinner time. We decided to get take out from Boston's and ate it by the pool between swimming. I went down the water slides, and they were a lot faster than I realized. I'm surprised the kids kept going on them, but I'm glad they are getting adventuresome. Maybe we'll try Waterworld next summer! Tuesday it was time to head for home, but not without a couple stops on the way. First off was Cosmos Mystery Area, which was pretty dead since most people were probably back at work or home already. The kids really got a kick out of that place. It was pretty weird, but being in the little house with the weird pull to one corner started to make me feel queasy after awhile. Luckily the tour wasn't very long! We stoppped at the Mammoth Dig site in Hot Springs, which is something I wanted to see. We got in just as a tour was starting, so we were able to join that. It's not a big place, so spending an hour there was just right. We had lunch outside on the picnic tables, and then really started for home. We didn't really stop after that, and got home around dinner time, which was perfect. I was worried that it wouldn't be enough time, but we managed to see quite a lot and it was a fun trip.