South Dakota Trip

We decided to go on one more family trip before school started. We drove up to South Dakota for the ever cliched visit to Mount Rushmore. I decided that I could take in the beautiful landscape of South Dakota but in the end I love being suburbanized! Below are some pictures of our adventure to cow country.

The first night we went to this fun little restaurant called the Branding Iron. The food was mediocre but as the trip went on, the Branding Iron became a 5 star restaurant.

The Mammoth site was quite impressive! Katie and Greta helped with one of the demonstrations by holding the bones for all to view.

Custer State Park:

The wild donkeys were very friendly. One even decided to scratch it's head on my side window.
Mt. Rushmore! What a site and so much better to see in person! It makes you really appreciate where this country started and the freedoms we enjoy. When we arrived at Mt. Rushmore, the weather was overcast. When we left, Mt. Rushmore looked much different.
At Thunderhead Falls, you climb through a cave to an underground waterfall. It was cool to see but a total waste of money.

Rushmore Cave was a totally different experience. It was pretty awesome and we endured the 400 stairs we had to climb.

Storybook Island was a ton of fun. I thought the park was a very clever idea and kids love it!


August 17th - Greta's Birthday! She finally go to open her presents in our hotel room.

We saw a sign by our hotel pointing the way to Cascade Falls. We decided to check it out. When we arrived, it was at a rest stop. We just laughed because we couldn't believe that we drove to a rest stop. Once we got out though, we realized there were some paths that let down to the falls.....very small falls. As we got down there, we ran into some Europeans who were taking a little swim. They started to leave just after the kids went in the water. In all my mom glory, I told the kids they could get their feet wet but to keep their clothes dry. HA, HA, HA!

I turned to take a few pictures and low and behold, I saw one of the European men in true European form (naked and changing). Whoa, didn't think I would get that in cow country.
That evening, we went to a Chuck-Wagon Dinner. It ended up being a great experience for the whole family. The girls got to shoot guns, drink birch beer, ride ponies, pet animals, watch a fun shoot-out and eat a fabulous meal with entertainment.