Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Our South Dakota Trip

Our first stop was Medora, ND. It has a national park that is gorgeous. You pay to go into the park and then can go in as much as you want for a week.

There are lots of prairie dogs. I thought this picture was cute.
There are also wild horses. We love to look/find them.
And Bison too! This one is right out of our truck window.
Emma loved picking the wildflowers!
When we got into Medora, we found out that there was a parade because it was Flag Day. We were exciting. It was an all horse parade. All. Horse. Parade. Boring! We were just ready to give up when the horse team and wagon for the musical in Medora went by. They were running and shouting. I thought it was all part of the show. Nope, the wagon team ran into a brand new SUV down at the end of the street. Oops. That was exciting.
We went into the park again right before evening. We got to see lots of wildlife as it cooled off. This deer was very close.
We also saw more horses. Vance walked out there to get better pictures.

That evening we stayed in a very classy hotel. It came with it's own fly swatter!

And a HUGE water heater!!
This is a picture of it from outside. Home Sweet Home.
This is a picture of a hotel that my Uncle Rich helped build. We didn't feel the need to splurge to spend the night there, but we did eat supper there. I forgot my camera, but it sure was an undertaking. There was 2 wineglasses a piece, 4 forks, cloth napkins, etc. The kids did great!
The next morning we ate at the Chuck Wagon...all because of this!
We then headed to Deadwood, SD. It is a really neat historic town. While Vance tried out a few of the slot machines, the kids and I road the trolley.
And took a few pictures. I loved all the chandeliers and old town feel.
This is a casino we got to go in. Gorgeous!
We then made it to Bear Country, U.S.A. An expensive place to go, but the kids love it!

We could have watched the baby cups at Babyland all day! So cute!

We then went to the Presidential Slide. You ride a chair lift to the top. We ate supper at the grill up there. You can see Mt. Rushmore behind us.
After our fun ride down the 2000ft slide, we got a close up view of Mt. Rushmore.
One of our favorite things to do is drive the pigtail bridges at Custer Park. Gorgeous!
I love this sign!
The next morning we went to Reptile Gardens. Emma loved it up!
She got to pet snakes:)
We went to the Alligator/Crocodile show and then got to pet a baby. This guy was great with the kids!
What the dome looks like inside. Very similar to the rainforest at the Omaha Zoo...only smaller.
We also checked out Rushmore Cave. Something I have never done on all my times in Keystone. It was really neat.
We met up with mom and dad and went to Crazy Horse. The have been working on this monument since 1948....and still have lots of work to do!
I don't know why I didn't add a picture of the actual monument. This is just a sculpture to show you what it will look like.
We went up the presidential slide again. And got a few pictures...
Colby
Me
Mom and Dad catching up with her!
This next picture is totally for Mrs. Kenney. Colby thought we needed this.
Then Emma wanted her picture taken:)
Historic Keystone
Getting goofy by the end of the night.

One more trip up to Mt. Rushmore to see the lighting. There was a gorgeous lightning storm to watch too....
Whew! Lots of pictures....great time!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a great time! So apparently I've never been to Keystone...bc I don't remember doing any of that on the strip. And the picture of your kids with the stuffed bear cracks me up....we have one that is oh so similar to that. Remember? I think we're all rocking tucked in t-shirts and you have the awesome haircut ;)

Love, Lauren

Unknown said...

I worked in Medora for 13 years. I just loved your flyswatter picture. I remember when those motel rooms were brought in from a CC camp in Northern ND. The singers in the Musical stayed there in those days. I knew about the runaway wagon but was tickled to see you had a picture.
My husband, Bob Bergman, was the "Old Timer, Badlands Bob" in the musical from 1981-1994. I mostly managed the Medora Campground. And we all ate at the Chuckwagon where the buffalo is.

Sandy

Bree Shaw said...

great pics and recap. love the last picture!

Anonymous said...

I think Vance or your dad could make one of those riding mowers for Colby if they would just try. I think I did my part....
Annette

Lindsay said...

Great pictures!! Could your kids be ANY cuter and sweeter?? Sheesh! I hope I'm half as blessed!! :)
--Lindsay