South Dakota

Hello All. After a week and half home from CA we loaded up the car and took off this morning on our next big adventure for the summer. I still have plenty of posting for Cali but I'll have to backtrack later so I stay up to date on our trip.

Today we made it to Rapid City, South Dakota. South Dakota! My first time here and another check off of states to visit. We made it in 13 hours with 4 stops (gas, food, and sightseeing). Overall the kids did very well and we had fun as we drove. We made a pit stop at a rest station, had a picnic lunch, and even managed to get in a geo cache that was at the stop. We picked up a travel bug and left Slush-It stickers. We'll let you know where we decide to drop the travel bug. This is our first traveling one.

Anyways, we drove a bit further and decided to stop at the World's only "Corn Palace" for another pit stop later on. It was pretty gimmicky and Mike told the kids to enjoy because it would probably be the only time we stop there. On the positive side they have some fun shopping inside and in case you didn't already know the outside is redecorated each year using 8-9 different colors of Indian Corn. This years theme was the airplane.

The kids took a long nap and we decided to drive until they woke up even though it was the dinner hour. When they woke we were pretty much in the middle of nowhere with hungry kiddos so we pulled over in Murdo, SD at a small diner. I have to say I was impressed in Murdo with their little dinner. The family was pleased all the way around and my Indian Taco was different than your average take out and quite tasty.

Next stop- The Badlands. We decided to take the "scenic' route and once again we were not disappointed. Scenic is definitely the right word. Scenic and impressive. We told Adam that there are a lot of dinosaur fossils here and he said, "Can we stop to find one. I just want to find one. I won't take it. I just want to find a dinosaur fossil." We did stop for some pictures but no dinosaur fossil hunting today. I highly recommend the scenic loop if you are in the area and ever get the chance. We saw buffalo and several deer which is always exciting and super exciting if you are under the age of 10 (or should I say a 7 year old boy that loves all things nature).

Stay tuned for our visit to Mt. Rushmore and Devil's Tower next.