On Vacation!!!

You'll need to sign in to see these.... but here is the link to our photos.. updated as often as I have a chance... over 700 photos and growing! http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=akapl9mx.avrpqph9&x=1&y=lvq2sk&localeid=en_US Enjoy!

We started off today with a trip to Hill City to the Black Hills Museum of Natural History.... Dinosaurs filled the room! It was pretty cool. From the museum, we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial... which was truly amazing.... In size comparison, Crazy horse is HUGE compared to Mt. Rushmore. We spent quite a bit of time at the museum and learning about the history of the family working on the project. We had lunch in Custer and opted to ride one more time through Custer State Park hoping to see some more wildlife... and to see Needles Highway. We were able to drive on Needles Highway, but as far as wildlife went, the animals were not coming out to play today. We drove back through Custer and Westward... stopping at the Jewel Caves before driving further west... stopping in Sheridan, Wyoming for the night.... Off to Yellowstone tomorrow!

We started off today with a trip to Midas. We were a bit concerned with the smell of our brakes. The lady at the shop was amazing! She drove us to Storybook Island while we were waiting for them to inspect the van. It turned out that the smell was just the brakes overheating, and they were fine. Storybook Island was not on our original itinerary for the day, but how AMAZING! It is a huge playground sponsorred by the Rotary Clubs of Rapid City, and is fashioned after a variety of children's stories. You need to see the pictures... it really was awesome, and FREE! We moved on from Storybook Island to Bear Country USA, a drive through animal park. We had the opportunity to see some really great animals :) Dane thought it was funny when the animals decided to cross the road.. He thought they were coming to ask the drivers for their licenses. His giggles were quite contagious on our trip through the park. Then we went to Deadwood to see an old west cowboy town, and were severely ...

Day 5: The view from our cabin is amazing in the daylight! And Custer State Park is much more fun to drive through during the day. We happened upon a buffalo herd partially blocking the road and saw the burros on our way out of the park. Lots of deer… a few birds… etc.. Unfortunately, Needles Highway was closed so we had to take a different route to Mt. Rushmore, but the ride was still gorgeous.. .maybe we will take that route tomorrow??/ We will have to see. Mount Rushmore was awesome! Or should I say, Face Mountain as Dane calls it? He was super interested in the museum part which was really cool… and we decided to take the “president’s walk through the memorial area and take the nature trail back to the parking lot. We took a wrong turn leaving Rushmore.. but it was awesome as we saw some really cool mountain goats by doing so, and only put us in the wrong direction for about 2 minutes. We drove into Rapid City for a bite to eat, and a 5 hour adventure at Reptile Gardens… amazing pl...

Day 4: Well, we got off to a bit of a late start, but that’s okay, we’re on vacation. Today was filled with a vast array of scenery. The beginning of our trip was flat farm fields, field after field of flatness…. It was a bit hilly as we crossed the Missouri river… and absolutely gorgeous. We stopped at Porter to look at the sculpture garden, but decided with the rain it wasn’t really worth the admission to get out and walk around, so we saw the few that were free out and about prior to reaching the actual site… which, by the way was in the middle of a cow pasture. I’m not quite sure how the cows were kept inside, as our van was able to drive right in to the field.. I’m surprised they aren’t missing cows! Anyway, our next stop was Mitchell… home of the world’s only corn palace… and for a “corny” tourist attraction, it’s truly a must see. The signs leading up to it were ridiculous… “corn-sider visiting” It’s “a-maize-ing” etc…. The murals at this place are redone EVERY year… and are com...

Well.... we ran into our first minor glitch in the travelling program today. Our reservations for our cabin this evening were made for June instead of July.... So I spendt a good deal of time this morning on the phone with the South Dakota State Parks... and ended up getting our reservations for July cancelled, and the park ranger at Big Sioux was extremely helpful to us in finding a cabin at a near by state park, Pallisades. Other than the long phone calls this morning, it was a blessing in disguise, as the new location is absolutely gorgeous! After checking out at Big Sioux, we headed for the Great Plains Zoo and Museum of Natural History. Dane was most excited about the zebras at the zoo and he really liked the museum. Dane says he wants to pick 5 animals: alligators, zebras, giraffes, buffalo, and a tiger. After the zoo.... it took us a bit to find Falls park in Sioux Falls, due to some construction.... The park is beautiful, AND I'm connected to the internet right next to the ...

Blog Day 2: We started off this morning with a swim in the pool. The water was super warm, and Dane enjoyed swimming as the pool was only 3 feet on one end and 5 feet on the other. After swimming we checked out and headed for the Mall of America to the Aquarium. Not much changed there, but it was still SOOOOOOOOO cool. We were able to touch the sharks and the stingrays, and we were there when it was time for the shark feeding. Dane’s favorite part is still the hammerhead sharks. Dane wrestled with a shark on our way out, and we found a cool photo booth to have our pictures taken. Apparently, we are wanted with a reward of $1,000,000. We moved from the aquarium back to the Rainforest Café to have one of their “volcanoes.” Life is uncertain… eat dessert first! Or in this case… only eat dessert! You’ve got to see the photo for this one. It is HUGE… and absolutely delicious. Dane loved that the dessert came with a lit sparkler and the entire staff yells.. “VOLCANO” when they bring it out t...

Well... .we made it to Minnesota. Today was mostly a day of driving. We drove south through Wisconsin and west to Bloomington. Dane had fun signaling the truckers to honk, and we managed to get 8 trucks to respond. A good portion of the trip I sat in the back with Dane, so with our tinted windows, it was difficult for them to see our signals. We were happy to pass through Wisconsin, as Dane quickly realized that it continually smells of something as we passed all of the farms.... Allan was quite intrigued by the landscape, rolling hills and lots of silos....... (you can connect the dots...) We arrived into Minnesota a bit later than planned, but that was okay. We checked into our hotel and then we were off to the Mall of America.... We had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, and we sat in the primate section... The random calls of the gorillas and the chimps filled the air... One was swinging above us.... Dane was quite certain he/she was trying to poop in our food. We were on constant guar...

Well--- The van is almost packed, and we are almost ready to start our adventure tomorrow! We have big plans, with few set deadlines on where we need to be.... However our tentative plans include: Monday- Minneapolis Tues/Wed- Big Souix Campgrounds Thurs/Fri- Custer State Park ?????? Somewhere in here.. Yellowstone, John Day, OR, Portland... etc.. Phoenix? July 12-16th Circus Circus in Vegas July 18th- Milwaukee July 19th- Home We'll keep you up to date as we can with photos and details of our trip!