Vacation 2012 Part 4: Train Ride, Bear Country U.S.A. and Sturgis, SD

For as long as I can remember my middle son, Carter, has had a huge thing for trains.  He loved Thomas for a long time and is just now growing out of it.  But regardless he loved the opportunity to ride a real steam locomotive.  He could not wait for it to get going.

I asked him to show me his "excited riding a train face".  Boy did he ever.


Things we saw out of the window,





The next stop on our way was Bear Country U.S.A.  I LOVE this place!!!  All the adult bears you can handle, (and a few other animals), and then they have this place called Babyland.  It's ridiculous how cute Baby Bears are. 



BABIES!!!

Baby bears suck on each other's ears for pacifiers.


This is the same bear.  Not two different bears beside one another.


And my husband's favorite part of the whole trip:

We had just missed the rally by a week and I have to say I am quite glad.  It was quiet and calm and a nice walk.  The town is dead when the rally isn't going on.


On the way back to the campsite we took a scenic byway home.  It was through Spearfish Canyon.
If you've ever been that way, you know exactly what I'm talking about when I say the whole thing looks like a Thomas Kincaid painting.


Well that's the last of the photos from Vacation 2012.  I have to say, if you get a chance to go, do not fly.  If you don't have time to drive, don't go.  It's a beautiful drive and it shouldn't be replaced by flight.  Make sure you have lots of time because there is so much scenic stuff to see.  We ran out of time.  We didn't even get to see Devil's Tower or the highway where the wild burrows are or even Crazy Horse.  I hope you enjoyed all the photos.  Next post:  Cindy and Adam, Brother and sister shoot.


Live Greatly, Love Softly

Vacation 2012 Part 3: Needles Highway and Mt. Rushmore

Mt. Rushmore.  What American, or foreigner for that matter, doesn't know what that is and I'm sure that the same picture comes to mind when we all think of it.  When I was given the opportunity this summer to go, I have to say I didn't immediately jump on it.  The fact that I had to camp and in a tent, no less, kinda swayed my excitement.  And part of me didn't believe we were going until we had hit the road leaving from Iowa.  Yes, it took me that long to believe it.  But, alas, we did get to go.  But before we saw Mt. Rushmore, we headed down Needles Highway.  I had never, in my life, heard of Needles Highway.  But Ben's aunt insisted that we see it, even though it was already on our agenda.  Even as we were leaving her driveway in Iowa, she stuck her head in the window and with an eerie whisper, she said, "NEEEEEDLESSSS HIIIIIIIGHWAAAAAY".  I know, Creepy. 
So Needles was where we were headed.
There are so many places to stop and look along the way and there are these tiny tunnels where only one car gets through at a time.  If you are very claustrophobic, then I think you should close your eyes while going through.  The good thing is that they aren't very long at all.  The longest one we went through took us like 3 seconds.  And make sure to honk as you are going through so other cars will know that you are coming out.


The rock formations on the road are amazing.  I didn't really have a first thought because I was speechless.  I think wow was my main word and thought throughout the whole trip.  And rightfully so.


So as I said in the previous post, Tyler and Carter love to climb on rocks.  I think it's built into a boys DNA to love things like this.  They were more than excited when they found out there was a place to stop so they could do some more climbing.  Oh, I forgot to mention, my husband loved it just as much as they did.  But my boys climbed in flip-flops.



The place where we stopped for the longest is the home of the Needles Eye.  I'm guessing this formation was made by the wind.  It's the photo to the left.  And it took me a minute to find it.  You don't just see it.  You have to look up and be standing in the right place.  Thank goodness for the sign right below it.  (That was in a sarcastic tone.  I wasn't feeling to bright that day and it showed)

And the other is a very rare family photo.  But at this point into the trip, my kids were all photo'd out.




The photo on the bottom is why it's called Needles Highway.  These formations are along the road.


Ever see the movie Nation Treasure 2:  Book of Secrets?  The scene where Nick Cage reaches his hand inside the rock and pretends that he gets bitten?  That was filmed at Sylvan Lake, The place in the top photo.


Mt. Rushmore just wasn't that exciting for my kids.  And I really can't expect much more from a 5 year old, a 6 year old, and an 8 year old.  They just didn't understand what went into carving four detailed faces into the side of a mountain made of granite.  But I totally got it.  Again I was overwhelmed.  I think I stood in one place and stared for 20 minutes.  It was beautiful!!






Just a couple of different views.


Concerning Mt. Rushmore, it's truly amazing to see what people can do with God's amazing works and I really do hope to go back one day.  If you get the chance to go, do no pass it up. 
Up next in Part 4,  Our train ride on a real steam locomotive, Bear Country U.S.A. (Baby Bears!!!), and Sturgis!!


Live Greatly, Love Softly

Vacation 2012 Part 2: The Badlands

So if you aren't into jagged, rugged peaks jutting up out of the earth I just might say The Badlands aren't for you.  I have never really thought that was true beauty.  I was WRONG!  If you don't wanna see lots and lots of photos of the Badlands, then you might wanna stop reading.

One of my motto's in life is, "Don't let other people make opinions for you."  Decide for yourself.   And I just started living by it about ten years ago.  I am so glad I did.  If you would've asked me ten years ago if I wanted to take a vacation and include the Badlands in my sightseeing, I would've turned you down pretty quickly.  I'm so glad I changed my mind set.  The Badlands were beyond beautiful.  There are no words for the gorgeous I got to see.
We drove into Badlands National Park and I knew I was going to see greatness, but I had no idea how great.  Let's just say tears.  That's what happened when I stepped out of the vehicle.  Lots and lots of tears.  I should've brought a tissue with me.  I think Ben thought I had hurt myself some how.  All of the beauty before me was overwhelming.  I couldn't hold in my awe and when it came out, it came out in the form of tears.  The pictures that you are about to see do not, by any means, do the Badlands justice.  I tried to capture them in the best way possible.



They were all pretty far away from me.  I zoomed in as much as I could.






He went from not wanting to take a photo to Hey mom please take some pictures of me.


Then he decided to take some with me.  My heart was very happy.






And my husband convinced me to get in front of the camera.  It rarely happens.  But I thought he did a good job taking photos of me. I'm very critical of my own photos.








We were all in the car for a while, as we drove through the park.  Naturally the kids were complaining about their legs hurting and Tyler wanted to climb on some rocks.  We came across a good place to get out and walk around.


The kids look so small here compared to the rocks.  Maybe it shows some perspective.



These two peaks are my absolute favorite.



 



I will never forget driving through the park and I hope one day we will all get to return.  I now have a new love for the Badlands.  Next up... Needles Highway and Mt. Rushmore.


Live Greatly, Love Softly

Vacation 2012 Part 1

Our vacation was scheduled around my husband's family reunion this year.  He's from Iowa, so that's where we were headed.  I was excited to get to see his family again.  I happen to love his side of the family and I wish we got to see them more often.  Then Ben gets a call from his mom saying that we could just cut our trip there short by a few days and head up to South Dakota and go see Mt. Rushmore and other landmarks in the area.  Ben and I discussed it and decided that it would be a great experience for the kids and for us as well.
So our first stop was IA where the majority of Ben's family is.  Well in the surround area's anyway.
The few days we got to stay were great.  We stayed with Ben's aunt who is the most amazing hostess.  I always love getting to stay with her.  The morning we left she made the best breakfast I've had in a long time. The sticky buns were out of this world.  I didn't get a whole lot of photos of the family, but I did get to snap some at the reunion.


The two girls in the bottom photo are 2nd cousins.  The first is my daughter and the one smiling is Ben's cousin, Tina's, daughter.  Her name is Callie.  I like to show people photos of Callie and then tell them it's not Maci.  I get the best reaction every single time.
The photo on the top is Tina's whole family.  Mom, dad, brother's, sisters-in-law, etc...

More of the family reunion...
 


The day after the reunion, we hit the road.  First up...The Great Plains.  I have always read about these in history books and have seen countless photos in magazines and travel brochures, but to see them in person is amazing.  Land goes on and on and on for what seems like forever.


I love how the hay gets stacked.


All along the way there were signs in fields.  We got to see a few pieces of art also.  I liked this one.
Indians chasing...

Cowboys!!!  Go figure.

When I was in high school my parents and brother made a trip to Montana.  To this day, I can't figure out why I didn't go with them.  Anyway, they came back talking about this place along the side of the interstate called Wall Drug, which was located in Wall, SD.  Then about a year ago I saw something on the Travel Channel about it and thought to myself, 'My family got to go there.'  I had completely forgotten about it.  Then about 300 miles east of Wall, we started seeing signs for Wall Drug.  My heart jumped into my throat!!  I told Ben we had to stop there.
These were only a few of the signs.

There were way to many to count.  Oh and if you are a honeymooner, they give you free coffee and doughnuts.

Wall also had an 80 foot dinosaur.  Jordan, my brother, had a broken arm at the time when he had his photo taken in front of it.  So in honor of him, we put our arms in the air. :)  And the photo on the top is the view behind the dino with the sun shining on it.  I just thought it was so pretty.


My kids are crack-ups!  They keep my husband and I laughing constantly.  And my daughter, when she's in the mood for photos, loves the camera.  Example:

The picture to the right is her winking face.




Ben and I at the fake Mt. Rushmore.


And this is just my husband being himself.  Now you know where my kids get it from.



Wall Drug's big thing is the free ice water.  They've been doing this since they opened.  So Ben of course had me take a photo of his excitement over the water.



This is all for part 1.  Next up in part 2:  The Badlands!  Most beautiful land I've ever seen!


Live Greatly, Love Softly