Our first pit stop was only one hour from Sioux Falls. Cabela's in Mitchell was calling our name.
Jason had his eye on a new Yeti cooler and they had them in stock. This is the daddy of all coolers and hopefully the last one we will ever have to buy. It keeps ice for weeks according to the advertisements and testimonials. You will have to check it out for yourself online. After that, we were supposed to go the World's only corn palace but we decided to move on to Al's Oasis instead. This had been recommended by the family from our previous camping stop. Jason had a Buffalo burger which he said was pretty good. About mid-state, we entered into the next time zone, mountain.
A few more hours and we stopped at Wall Drug. This was a little western town made into a tourist attraction. The way they advertised this place, you would think we were going to Disney World! There were gold stores, souvenir shops galore, the original drug store that started it all and a Harley Davidson store too. We had some "free ice water" and famous cake donuts then were on our way again.
The landscape started to change, mountains appeared in place of corn fields then we could see the Badlands in the distance. What an amazing site even from far away. The boys weren't interested in them though. We interrupted there movie continuously to point out the landscape. We passed through Rapid City and on to Keystone through winding roads in the mountains. Our intructions were printed from their website. It plainly said, "do not use your GPS". I felt sick after accelerating and decelerating through the roads going to the campground. We had to take a trucker route since our camper was too tall to go through some of the tunnels cut into the mountain on the scenic route.
Finally, we arrived at Spokane Creek. The office was closed but we grabbed our envelope by the door which indicated our site. Jason tried to manuever into it but we weren't going to fit. Our truck and trailer exceeded the length dramatically. a nice man on a four-wheeler relocated us to a much better site down the way, right next to the playground. We settled in for the night after speaking to our neighbors that were full-time RVers.
There was so much to do in the area. We tried to map out our time for the next few days. Mount Rushmore was at the top of our agenda. We went on the perfect day. There was a ceremony at the base of Mt. Rushmore naturalizing 111 new citizens. This only happens once a year. What a cool thing to witness! There was flag presentation, singing of the national anthem, guest speakers and the oath. Each new citizen got to go up on stage and state there name and where they were from. A few even yelled out "God Bless America" as they went across. The kids thought it was funny to hear all the different languages/nationalities but I think they appreciated seeing it in the end.
We also learned about G. Borglum and his vision of the monument. It was neat to see how the figures were carved. 90% of Mount Rushmore was created by dynamite blasting. They used a process called honeycombing. Borglum died before it was completed but his son took over
and saw it to the end.
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| Wesley - the junior ranger |
The boys worked on their second junior ranger badge while we were there. They had to search high and low for answers in the test booklet. A ranger quizzed them to make sure they knew what a ranger's duties were and the history of Mt. Rushmore.
Friday June 15th, was Nathan’s 11th birthday. We started the day with a train ride from Keystone to Hill City aboard the historic 1880’s train. It was a pretty trip lasting about an hour each way. Wesley was the most excited passenger in our family. He was happy to be on the “choo-choo”. 
We also went into town, had dinner and saw Madagascar 3. It was a cute movie and everyone enjoyed it. Wesley wanted to go get it on DVD right away.
Saturday morning, we drove into Custer State Park. On our way to Sylvan Lake, we finally saw some buffalo grazing by the road. Their heads are enormous and they don’t seem to be bothered by the visitors gawking at them. Sylvan Lake was breathtaking! There was a crystal clear Lake surrounded by huge boulders and lots of trails which lead to Harney’s peak.
We went for a short hike, taking photos along the way until SamBob and Wesley wanted to be carried. We cut it short since we had an hour drive back to the camper and a BMX race that evening in Rapid City. The track was already busy with practice and registration when we arrived. The boys were excited for some new competition. During practice, Jason Jr. crashed and hurt his elbow, shoulder and wrist. Even the visor on his helmet was busted. The race was sponsored by Monster Energy drink and the boys were excited to get hats, t-shirts and other goodies from them. Everyone raced well. Wesley almost made it to his main but crashed in the last turn during his 3rd moto.
On Sunday morning, Jason and Jason Jr. got up early to go hiking. The goal was to climb Harney Peak, elevation of 7242 feet. Jason Jr. was a little skeptical because of his injuries but he still pressed on. It took a little over 3 hours to go up and come back down the 7 mile path. Jason said the view was amazing. He could see the back of Mt. Rushmore as well as 5 states from the top. It was a very intense hike and they encountered a few people on the way down that were fatigued and had run out of water. There was also a search and rescue going on while they were on the mountain. They were very proud to overcome this challenge.
Later that evening, we took a guided ride to a valley for a chuck-wagon supper. Along the way, our host played the guitar and we sung western songs and got to know everyone in the wagon. We saw lots of wildlife including, deer, pronghorn and prairie dogs. When we arrived, there were long picnic tables set up and a table full of catered food. Hamburgers, steak, baked beans, cole slaw, corn bread, potato salad, watermelon, cookies galore! More music was played and then came the games…
Some of the men got up and acted like Elvis and yes, Jason was one of them. He never misses an opportunity to act like a fool. We also did the hokey pokey and chicken dance. On the way back to our camper, there was a herd of bison crossing the road. I could almost reach out and touch them. It was a really cool experience and a nice close to our time at Custer State Park in South Dakota
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