Black Hills

We have been planning for several years to take a vacation to the Black Hills and see Mount Rushmore and a few of the sights out there. But as is typical in my life, it has been put on hold each year for a remodeling project, or a family reunion, or taking summer classes...whatever the case may be. So this year, we decided to make it happen, and loaded up the camper to head to South Dakota. (Yes, for all those who may be geographically challenged like myself, Mount Rushmore is in South Dakota ;-)
There is sooo much to do & see there! We didn't even make a dent in it - but that just means we'll have to go back with all the kids next year :-)
We did see the Crazy Horse Memorial, Mount Rushmore, the Cosmos, Old MacDonald's Farm, Bear Country, and Storybook Island, and probably a few more attractions that I forgot to mention. My personal favorite was the lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore - I'm a sucker for patriotic & historical stuff, so that was right up my alley. Reghan LOVED Bear Country and Old MacDonald's Farm; and I think Ralph's favorite was either Bear Country or Mount Rushmore (he's not here to tell me - he'll have to write his own update if I'm wrong :-)

The goats at Old MacDonald's Farm loved our clothes. They tried to eat Reghan's shirt & she was not a fan of that at all!

She wanted to pet the cows from a distance...

Regs loved her pony ride - I wasn't sure if she would go, but she smiled the whole time!

This is me in the Cosmos - they say the magnetic force is different here, so it allows you to lean so far forward off the walls and not fall...I think you can lean so far forward because the walls are build on a pretty good slant...not that I'm a scientist or anything ;-). But anyway, it was fun!

Reghan rode the buffalo like a true cowgirl at Storybook Island. She was so good the entire trip!!
A picture of the lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore. I forgot our camera (what the heck was I thinking??), so Ralph had to take it with his phone...not the best quality, but a great memory!

Reghan rode the train at Storybook Island. She is getting so big. She LOVED it! The train was one of the first things we did, and she was totally not interested in the rest of the park after that; she just wanted "moe tain." I love trying to decipher her new words!!

Here we are at the Crazy Horse Memorial. All that is sculpted so far in the mountain (you can barely see it in the background) is his head, and they have started on his horse's head, but it will be a long time before this is done! I loved wandering through the museum and seeing all the quotes from the Indian chiefs. Especially because I feel so familiar with them, as all my favorite ski runs at Grand Targhee are named after them :-D...Chief Joseph Bowl, Crazy Horse, Little Big Horn...

We had a great time, and are looking forward to going again when we can take all the kids. There are so many great things for kids in that area - it's a fun family vacation spot!!