Once again we drove out to Utah over the summer, but this time we decided to make a few extra detours along the way....
Get cozy, this is a long post!
Our amazingly funded library now has ipads for check out, we took 2 along with us to help the trip be a little quieter.
Seeing some dear friends who moved far away...
Using roadfood.com we found some amazing diners! Here we are at Bob's in Sioux Falls, SD
Shocker! Yoda had grilled cheese...
That's me in the blue chatting with some locals. They loved that we came all the way from Ohio for the burgers.
Why did we go to South Dakota? Why to get amazing family photos--just kidding! This was the worst family photo session I think we have ever had!
This one was taken by a lady came over and offered to take a better photo of us. umm, thanks?
again, a great photo... (again, just kidding)
Finally a cute one! I know Yoda is making a funny face, but it was a fun moment and we were so tired of photos at this point.
Learning more about the sculptor and the mountain.
Before Mount Rushmore we hit the Badlands National Park. It's totally
worth the drive to see how different the American landscape can be.
We totally did it backwards. We should have planned more time to hike and look around the Badlands. Instead we rushed through the Badlands to spend time around Mount Rushmore. But once we got there, we were wishing we had spent more time hiking. Lesson learned.
This summer Parker has been working on his personal fitness merit badge and he remembered while we were hanging out at the Badlands, so we took the opportunity to do some pushups. Yes, we are ridiculous!
Yoda checking out the badlands.
The whole place is so empty, it's amazing. Then a giant ram showed up out of nowhere and everyone was so charmed by it. And then someone yelled out "look its a ram right next to a ram! (meaning the minivan)
Before we left the area we hit the Crazy Horse Memorial. It's amazing and educational.
This is a scale model of what the mountain will look like someday. We did not hike up to the mountain.
There was also a monument to the twin towers.
Along the way we did a little Geocaching.
We got a little swimming in at a hotel.
And we hit Little America for some inexpensive ice cream.
More to come...
