Vacation in So. Dakota

What to write, what to blog. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, it's that I have too many thoughts going through my head, and it's sorting them out and choosing so they make the best sense.

We left on Sunday the 21st to start out our vacation. We headed for Devil's Tower, WY. The girls did okay--mostly Syd was impatient, but okay. What an amazing site--we topped one of the hills heading there, and all of a sudden there it was. This big rock sticking up out of the earth peering over the hills. It was amazing. It wasn't like there was a bunch of other rocks around it--it was pretty much by itself. Very cool. We spent the afternoon--once we got the camper parked and settled--hiking around the base and watching climbers on the tower. It was such a fun day. The girls got tired and hot, but they did great. Monday morning we got up, packed everything back up and headed for South Dakota. It took us a while, but we made our way through Rapid City and down through Hill City and to our campground. It's HUGE!! We got parked and settled and were deciding on what to do, when we heard a knock on our camper door. Great, it's the KOA guy--what are we in trouble for this time? (long story, but it seems sometimes when we go camping we get into trouble--but not because we've done anything wrong, but sometimes people are just jerks!) Anyway, we weren't in trouble, but actually the KOA was in trouble with one of their customers. Apparently a man made reservations way back in January for our specific spot, and he happened to arrive the same day we did--but we got here first--and for some reason--I think when we added an extra night to our stay--they put us in this guy's spot. Well he threw a fit, so one of the head honchos came to our camper and offered us our whole stay for free if we would move. Heck yeah we'll move! So, we ended up moving--closer to the playground and pools--and spent the rest of the day here at our campground, swimming, playing and hanging out. Tuesday morning we decided to get up early and head to the Needles highway and drive on the pigtails and go through Custer State Park. We saw tons of buffalo, a few deer, and fed the burros. It was a fun day but lots of driving. Wednesday we slept in a little bit then headed towards Rapid City and went to Reptile Gardens. Sydney was pretty scared to go in there, but once she realized that all the animals were behind glass and in cages (well for the most part) she was okay. We even sat and watched a bird show and saw part of an alligator show. We really enjoyed Reptile Gardens, which is amazing because that wasn't even one of our original planned stops, but we decided to try it out. We then headed into Rapid City to have a lunch cooked for us (our first time eating out on vacation!) and then went to the maze. Well that kicked us in the butt! It was pretty confusing, but we had fun even though we were really hot and tired. Then we drove around Rapid City and stopped at Sonic (never eaten there before!) to have some ice cream. By the time we got back to the campground, we were pretty sure Marlene, John and the kids had arrived at the lodge, so we walked up there and found them, and played with the kids at the park for a while, then came back to the camper for a campfire and some fun.

This morning (Thursday), we got up EARLY so we could make it to Mt. Rushmore before it got too crazy busy. Wow--that was amazing too. Unfortunately, it was not a good time for Sydney. She was on overload. I missed most of the museum because she would take off running once we entered and she heard the explosion from the little video demonstration. She refused to go in there. She cried so much today--it was pretty rough--I'm sure for her more than me because I don't understand. I was almost in tears at the museum from frustration. There's only so much you can do until everybody is miserable, so basically you do the best you can. Then we headed to Flintstone Village. She had more overloads there. The little Flintstone Trio show was more than she wanted to take, and we forced her to sit in there with us, which I don't know if that was a good idea or not. Then Barney and Fred came out in their costumes--yikes--more overload. She wouldn't even walk AROUND them. We had to wait until they left before we could continue on. Bleh. She then did okay--decided she wanted to ride the Flinstone Village train, so that was good. The kids played on the playground lots, and we all got something in the gift shop. I guess looking back at the morning, with 8 of us in John and Marlene's vehicle and all the walking, and the heat, the kids didn't do too bad. I think Miss Melissa will get an earful from Syd next week at OT. Let's hope the thunder boomers don't come tonight and tomorrow at Bear Country is fun!!! It has been a great vacation so far. I'll post some pics later.