(Location N/O) Mt. Rushmore? I've heard there isn't much to see. Some faces on a rock. It'll take what, 45 minutes to get a few good photos with the fam, maybe throw in a diaper change? So we'll very generously give two nights at our Black Hills campground so we can have a little down time. Things have been busy, so some relaxation is overdue. A solid plan for sure.
Oh, what's this National Park around the corner? Wind Cave? That could be cool. The boys have been racking up their LJ dubbed "Badgination" Junior Ranger badges (7 at this point), so we can't pass up another cool cavern for yet another badge. We'll add that to the to-do list.
I punch the route into Google Maps to plan out our visit. Hey now! Looks like smack dab between Wind Cave and Mt. Rushmore is Custer State Park. I rarely pass up the opportunity to get a glimpse at wild bison, and hey, it's on the way. Add it to the list!
Now that we have our plan I'm starting to see our relaxing day is going to be a little busier than first planned. At least we'll still have our arrival evening and late morning departure 36 hours later.
We roll into our campground mid-evening and what do we see? A tractor-pulled "choo-choo train" equipped with music fit for a train ride, joyfully towing kids all over the campground. Looks like we have our evening planned!
After unhitching, connecting the utilities and unloading the storage shed/children's room, we head over to the "train depot." A quick ride before dinner is the plan, since it stops running at 8 and its already 7:30. Along the way we spot a communal fire pit with free marshmallows for roasting. That closes at 8 too, so we'd better make an exception and have some pre-dinner dessert.
The train ride - a fun chance to watch the kids faces light with joy as we wave to all the neighboring campers on our journey. The marshmallow roast leads to campfire conversation with a family from North Dakota. That's right - people actually do live in North Dakota, and those accents aren't made up for TV and movies after all. Better still, they are considering a move to Nebraska to "enjoy some milder winters." The idea of this leaves me dumbfounded and completely speechless. Late conversation allows the boys to explore the fantastic playground and get some peer interaction time.
And now it's after 9pm. Dinner... yeah about that. We'll slap together some leftovers and try to get to bed as soon as possible, because tomorrow is now a busy day. We have Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park, Mt. Rushmore National Monument, and to top it off our campground is hosting a real deal summer rodeo series. 5pm kicks off "Mutton Bustin'." The boys aren't exactly pumped to try it out - rightfully apprehensive I'd say, but we want to be back by 5 to give them the chance should they tap into some courage from their inner cowboy. They have the boots after all. Oh, and some friendly campground staff said a nearby drive through bear zoo called "Bear Country USA" was a must see. Adding that to tomorrow's plans is just too much, so maybe we'll hit it up the next morning before hitting the road to Badlands (details on this in the next blog post). And of course AJ has his third day of virtual kindergarten we need to make time for. No time like the present! We knock out some lessons the night prior to our big day, further pushing bedtime for all but Baby A (well past 10 pm now). Oh, and to add to our already full schedule, Brynn has a non-negotiable Trades of Hope event at 7 the next night, so we'll definitely have to be home by then. I guess she'll have to miss the end of the rodeo.
So how does it all play out? A late night is followed by a late morning - 8:30 or so. We enjoyed a fresh egg scramble on the patio and packed lunches and supplies for the day. Then we hit the road for a near 90 minute drive to Stop 1 - Wind Cave National Park. We are treated to two scampering coyotes in the field right outside the campground - and about one thousand prairie dogs hoping not to be their next meal. Wind Cave, named for the rushing of air into and out of the cave mouth depending on outside air pressure (winds reaching 75mph at the entrance), was actually pretty cool*. The boys earned another National Park Junior Ranger badge, and Brynn and I, now spoiled with Skyline Caverns, Mammoth Cave and Carlsbad Caverns, were both disappointed the cavern tour was so limited, but equally happy to be done quickly as their wasn't a whole lot to see compared to our country's more famous caverns.
Nearing 2pm we head on to Custer State Park. We see bison - many bison. Pronghorn - many pronghorn. And an absurd amount of prairie dogs - by the thousands. How every one of those bison hasn't sprained an ankle walking through those pot-holed prairies is beyond me. We even nearly slam the truck into a doe leading her spotted fawns across a winding mountain road. Definitely plenty of wildlife viewing here. The Black Hills were gorgeous with outstanding views, some of Mt. Rushmore through old square tunnels. A view I'll never forget. But we had no time to stop and admire. We'll miss Mutton Bustin! (My favorite rodeo event, by the way).
Mt. Rushmore greets us with its grand achievement, both in art and American history. Between the photos, museums, short film, virtual dynamite blasting, Junior Ranger workbooks, a hike around the base of the mountain, and yes, ice cream, Mt. Rushmore was no 45 minute stop. We didn't waste a ton of time, yet found ourselves driving away after 6pm. There goes Mutton Bustin'. And now its crunch time before Brynn's Trades of Hope party.
So the rugrats and I clear out to give Brynn some quiet. The campground is running hay rides to and from the rodeo. Awe-some! These are the things that make being with the kids fun. As expected, we show up to the rodeo after Mutton Bustin'. We even miss the bareback bronco riding. But at $0 price of entry (a kind soul donated the $5 tickets to any military that showed, and free for kids under 10), this rodeo was surely worth the price of admission even showing up midway through. What we did get to see was saddle bronc riding and about a dozen bull rides. Better still, since we showed up late and the bleachers were already full, we sat in the grass up front, just feet away from the heavy duty fencing. The bucking broncos would tear out of their gates and come full speed right at us, hitting the brakes just before crashing head on into thick steel. Some didn't make the turn so quickly, giving the kids a pretty good scare. And these horses were BIG. AJ repeatedly asked me if the fence was strong enough to hold the angry horses back. "Could they get hurt running into it?" he asked. "What about the bulls? Can the bulls get through? If they hit their horns on the fence then could they get through? Oh, they'll probably break a horn," he reasoned. Despite my reassurances, AJ took a few scooches back when a horse kicking those back legs higher than the fence came within 6 feet of him. And just about each horse did the same, growling a mean sound all the while. I wish I had my camera there to capture it. Small town rodeos are a real thrill!
By 9pm the rodeo shut down and we hay-rode it on back to camp with two dozen other jovial (some likely drunk) campers. For some odd reason [still confusing to me now] I decided we'd pop into the rec. room for a little foosball with the boys. It's after bedtime, I haven't had dinner (the kids ate burgers and granola bars we brought to the rodeo), and I'm constantly stressing about LJ getting a foosball pole slammed into his forehead whenever they play. So encouraging a late night game probably wasn't the smartest choice of the day. And yet, we play for 10 minutes or so and eventually I peel them away for bed.
The next day we manage to squeeze in "Bear Country" after a little shuffling of where our camper is parked. Hitch up - drive to parking lot - unhitch - go to drive through zoo - hitch back up - head to Badlands National Park.
All in all, what a 36 hours it ended up being! Certainly no relaxing to be had.
The recap:
6:30 pm: Arrive at Black Hills campground (Hart Ranch RV Resort) and set up camp
7:30-7:45 pm: Train ride around campground
7:45-9pm: Marshmallows by fire and playground time
9-9:30pm: Dinner
9:30-10:15pm: Homeschool AJ
10:30pm: Sleep
_____________
8:30-10 am: Wake, Eat, Go out the door
10-11:30 am: Drive to Wind Cave National Park
11:30-2 pm: Wind Cave National Park tour and "badgination"
2-3:30 pm: Custer State Park driving visit
3:30-6 pm: Mt. Rushmore National Monument
6-6:30 pm: Drive home
6:30-9 pm: Rodeo 7-9pm: Trades of Hope party for Brynn
9-9:15 pm: Foosball
9:30 pm: Kids asleep
9:30-midnight: Brynn and Jon eat, read and asleep around midnight
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7-9 am: Homeschooling
9-10:30 am: Breakfast/Pack up/break camp/hitch trailer/unhitch at new place
10:30-1 pm: Bear Country USA
1-1:45 pm: Hitch up/trailer maintenance for rear bulb/refill diesel/inflate tires
2-3:30 pm: My body begins hating me for choosing to dine at Pizza Ranch buffet style restaurant (followed by playing basketball)
3:30-5 pm: Drive to Badlands National Park
All in all, its really closer to 48 hours, but boy was it jam packed. Honestly that wasn't too far from a normal day for us lately, with no sign of slowing down. It's a whirlwind of a summer for sure!
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