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Start your own Shutterfly Photo Book today.
Wow, that Shutterfly link is difficult to see. Sorry to say I spent the entire evening trying to upload to that site, so this site ain't gettin any.
The first day, we drove 10 hours, with a stop at Sioux Falls for an hour or so. Then we drove to De Smet, SD to see the Laura Ingalls Homestead. It was SO awesome. Grace and I wore braids. The kids drove a covered wagon and made corn cob dolls and homemade jump ropes.
Then we went to Badlands National Park. We put the tent up. A storm came and knocked it down and hail started falling right as we jumped into the car. We tied the tent to the picnic table and drove to a hotel. Thankfully when we came back the next morning, everything was no worse for wear, and dried out pretty quickly.
We hiked. We sweated. The AC broke in my car. It was SO beautiful, though. We sat and watched a town of prairie dogs for about 45 minutes. We saw some breathtaking sunsets.
After 3 nights at Badlands, we drove to Custer State Park to stay in a cabin in the mountains for 3 more nights. We saw Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse, briefly. Custer was so amazing. It was absolutely gorgeous. We hiked, we swam, we drove scenic drives through tunnels. We saw 62 bison.
The last two days of the trip were a bit of a downer- I had planned a day of driving through Nebraska's Fossil Freeway, ending at Scottsbluff National Monument and staying in a hotel before a 12 hour drive home the next day. Unfortunately, I did not plan for a broken air conditioner and 101 degree heat. Morale was low on the Oregon Trail in those days, my friends. But we made it home and took showers, so it ended well.
We had a great time.
