Last weekend we drove to South Dakota via Wyoming. That's one cool thing about living a little more central is the proximity to a number of amazing locales such as Mt. Rushmore and The Black Hills. (If we can't have the beach we might as well be close to lots of other things, right?)
The drive took about 7 hours which included a lunch break. Not too bad of a drive and quite pretty although very remote. As a side note, did you know that Wyoming is the least populated state with a little over 500,000 people? Definitely by far not one of the smallest states. I think it's one of the top 10 largest states. Having driven through parts of Wyoming I can see that not too many people live there. Like I said, it's very pretty, but a TON of open space.
South Dakota was pretty similar too. We stayed in Rapid City which has about 67,000 people. It's the largest city on the western side of the state. Hmm, wow! Coming from Cali and CO that's on the small side.
The main purpose of our trip was to see Mt. Rushmore, but there is a whole lot more to do there than see 4 former Presidents immortalized in stone. Pretty amazing in and of itself, but didn't completely impress the boys. Mainly because they can't appreciate what Mt. Rushmore symbolizes nor can they appreciate how difficult it was to carve such large faces in stone....which happens to be on the side of a mountain.
Friday, the day we visited Mt. Rushmore (which is located in Keystone, pop. 311) the boys and Rick enjoyed the alpine slides and a helicopter tour. The helicopter tour only lasts about 7 minutes, but according to Rick it was worth it. They flew over The Black Hills and got to see Mt. Rushmore from a distance. The older boys had such a blast, the pilot had to turn down the volume on their headsets.
The drive took about 7 hours which included a lunch break. Not too bad of a drive and quite pretty although very remote. As a side note, did you know that Wyoming is the least populated state with a little over 500,000 people? Definitely by far not one of the smallest states. I think it's one of the top 10 largest states. Having driven through parts of Wyoming I can see that not too many people live there. Like I said, it's very pretty, but a TON of open space.
South Dakota was pretty similar too. We stayed in Rapid City which has about 67,000 people. It's the largest city on the western side of the state. Hmm, wow! Coming from Cali and CO that's on the small side.
The main purpose of our trip was to see Mt. Rushmore, but there is a whole lot more to do there than see 4 former Presidents immortalized in stone. Pretty amazing in and of itself, but didn't completely impress the boys. Mainly because they can't appreciate what Mt. Rushmore symbolizes nor can they appreciate how difficult it was to carve such large faces in stone....which happens to be on the side of a mountain.
Friday, the day we visited Mt. Rushmore (which is located in Keystone, pop. 311) the boys and Rick enjoyed the alpine slides and a helicopter tour. The helicopter tour only lasts about 7 minutes, but according to Rick it was worth it. They flew over The Black Hills and got to see Mt. Rushmore from a distance. The older boys had such a blast, the pilot had to turn down the volume on their headsets.
We also went to a place called Bear Country USA. You drive through this "open wildlife park" to see elk, wolves, mt. goats, mt. lions, bison and as the name suggests bears. And lots of them. All the animals except the mt. lions have the ability to wander freely through their area. Each section is cordoned off by those rails on the road. You know those kind that keep the cows from crossing the road. Don't know the technical term. The wolves and bears roam together and it was pretty cool to see them wander by our cars. If I didn't know any better I would've thought we came across them in a national park.
After the car tour you can walk through babyland. As the name implies you get to see lots of young animals....and grizzly bears. (Go figure.) I guess Grizzlies are too aggressive to wander "freely" near cars. Glad they figured that out before we arrived.
Saturday we drove to Reptile Gardens. Another great place, albeit a tourist trap to rack in the dough from from visitors like us. They also have a lot of great animals to see. We saw the alligator/crocodile show. Pretty funny and it was cool to see a Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" like character "wrestling" alligators. Rick and the older boys watched a snake show while I watched some of a bird show with Curren. They also have giant tortoises - they were HUGE! the boys could touch and pet. Plus a large dome enclosure which housed a large variety of snakes. Aidan really liked seeing the most venomous snake in the world - Inland Taipan snake or the Fierce snake found in Australia. Wouldn't want to come across that thing, even if it's pretty docile. Not a huge fan of snakes in general.
After the car tour you can walk through babyland. As the name implies you get to see lots of young animals....and grizzly bears. (Go figure.) I guess Grizzlies are too aggressive to wander "freely" near cars. Glad they figured that out before we arrived.
Saturday we drove to Reptile Gardens. Another great place, albeit a tourist trap to rack in the dough from from visitors like us. They also have a lot of great animals to see. We saw the alligator/crocodile show. Pretty funny and it was cool to see a Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter" like character "wrestling" alligators. Rick and the older boys watched a snake show while I watched some of a bird show with Curren. They also have giant tortoises - they were HUGE! the boys could touch and pet. Plus a large dome enclosure which housed a large variety of snakes. Aidan really liked seeing the most venomous snake in the world - Inland Taipan snake or the Fierce snake found in Australia. Wouldn't want to come across that thing, even if it's pretty docile. Not a huge fan of snakes in general.
Afterwards, we drove to Deadwood. It's a town just north of Rapid City and steeped in history. Actually the whole town is on the National History Registry. It's claim to fame is "Wild Bill" Hickock and Calamity Jane. Look them up if you're curious who they are.
(Saloon where "Wild Bill" Hickock was shot)
The town is situated in beautiful area of The Black Hills. Pine trees surround the whole town and most, if not all the buildings in the main downtown area are historic, gorgeous looking and well-kept. The weekend we were there the town was celebrating "Wild Bill Days". They had a lot of events going on including a dog agility competition called Dockdogs. One dog, named Jet from Colorado had just moved on to the pro round because he jumped 24 feet! Amazing. The owner throws a ball or toy into a pool of water and the dog jumps to fetch it. It was amazing seeing how far they jump and how well trained they are.
Sunday, before leaving for home we took a little detour and stopped off at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB. They had some pretty cool jets and bombers. I'm not an airplane buff so I couldn't really tell all we saw except they were dated from WWII to present. A nice little Father's Day gift for Rick especially since he had to drive us home.
We had a great time, but it's always nice to come back home. I told Rick as we rounded a turn and saw the Denver skyline that I love the best of both worlds. City life and open space. We live in such a beautiful country.
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