We recently got back from a great 8-day vacation traveling through Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and back to Wyoming. It was a super fun road trip and we saw and did lots of really fun things.
As we were driving through Wyoming to get to South Dakota we literally ran in to the Martins Cove Visitors Center - we had to stop and walk through to learn about the pioneers. It was really cool.
We even got to pull a handcart and see what it might have been like to cross the plains with your 17 pounds of personal belongings.
That little "hill" behind us is known as Rattlesnake Pass where all pioneers and travelers passed through on the trail.
After a great hotel stay in Lusk, Wyoming we stopped for a visit at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD. It is a place with lots and lots of Mammoth skeletons that they are digging up.
It was really cool to see so many bones and huge mammoth skeletons.
Then we drove up through Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park. We didn't have time to hike the caves but enjoyed the scenery and wildlife.
We saw lots and lots of buffalo.
The next morning we got up early and wen to see Mount Rushmore. This is something we have wanted to do forever and it sure didn't disappoint! Please tilt your head slightly and pretend that the picture is level - it was the best we could do (for some reason). Maybe there was an earthquake at that exact moment - we can't really recall.
Everyone told us not to be disappointed because the monument was really small - - we didn't think so at all. It was amazing and really really cool.
We saw it from afar.
And then we hiked up to be right underneath it.
We spent some time in Keystone, the town right outside Mount Rushmore and it was a fun little town. Teddy Roosevelt happens to be my favorite president so I was excited to find "Teddy's Deli".
And Sam's favorite president is Abraham Lincoln. He found this great statue.
From there we made a stop at Bear Country USA on the way to Rapid City. It was a hot day but we got to see lots of animals.
Elk . . . .
. . . . Mountain Goats . . . .
. . . . Mountain Lions . . . .
. . . . lots of Bears . . . .
. . . . and Raccoons . . . . to name a few.
We also watched the bear cubs for a long, long time. They are really the star attractions!
Tilt your head again to watch this video of some of the cubs - it is well worth the cricked neck!
The boys finishing up a few hours at the park. We headed up to Spearfish from there.
Of course the big highlight for me and Sam of any road trip is swimming at the hotel pools. And we did that too . . . a lot!
We drove back down to Keystone the next morning so that we could ride the 1880 Train with the steam engine pulling us. It was great fun!
We went from Keystone to Hill City and back.
We all literally fell in love with the Black Hills! So pretty and so much to see and do.
We NEVER get tired of riding trains!
Here's the steam engine blowing out the lines.
Besides swimming at our hotels, Sam and I did a little "reader's theater" from time to time too. Enjoy our rendition of Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle . . . .
After South Dakota we headed up to North Dakota to the town of Medora. Our goal - spend some time at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The landscape here is known as Badlands. It was so cool and really unlike anything we had seen before. So pretty in it's own way! No wonder Teddy loved this area.
There were prairie dog towns everywhere you looked. Sam tried to sit quietly until one of the little guys came back up through this hole. That takes great patience I tell you!
Here you can see a bunch of prairie dogs on alert. We were lucky enough to see two different coyotes at two different prairie dog towns trying to sneak in for some lunch. Fortunately for the prairie dogs, our presence seemed to scare the coyotes away . . . . for awhile at least.
The whole family.
We took lots of fun hikes and tried to see as much as we could.
We even found the Little Missouri River.
Here's one lone buffalo we found on one of our hikes.
The badlands landscapes went on forever.
Sam is always up for a jumping picture.
One of the last things we saw in the part was this herd of wild horses. They were beautiful.
Then we took a stagecoach ride to see what traveling in the old west would have been like.
It was incredibly bumpy and sometimes a little too fast for our blood.
Overall, the stagecoach ride was really fun . . . and bumpy - did we already say that?
Then we headed to eastern Montana to Makoshika State Park. After seeing the Black Hills and TR National Park, this was actually a bit disappointing. But the one cool thing we did was a hike out to a natural bridge.
It was definitely a hot, sunny day.
More badlands all around us.
Lots of cool places to hike and climb.
We took a good rest in the shade when we could find it.
Ok - out of Montana and next . . . . .
. . . . Northeastern Wyoming to Devil's Tower. We were super excited to come here.
Mom found this amazing bed and breakfast place for us to stay. It was one of only two places to stay with a view of Devil's Tower. We sat on our private deck and watched the sun set over Devil's Tower.
And we watched the deer in the fields below us come out for the evening. And we loved on Mellow the family dog, watched with the family chickens and turkey, and entertained our host Sarah.
This was our view the next morning as we woke up. After Sarah made us an amazing home cooked breakfast, we packed up and headed out to see the Tower up close and personal.
I have to say the Tower was much taller than we thought it was going to be.
It reminded us a lot of the Devil's Postpile National Monument that we visited a few years ago in central California.
Sam and I took the time to earn our Junior Ranger badges here. (We did this in TR NP too - it is a fun thing we try to do when we visit National Parks and Monuments - if we have enough time.)
We hiked all the way around the tower. There were lots of climbers up on the Tower.
Then we headed for home with a one-night stop in Casper - to rest up and to swim some more.
On our drive home we saw this bald eagle flying right above us so we pulled over and watched him for awhile. What a great country we live in!
It's always so much fun to see different parts of the country and enjoy this land of ours!
Another great vacation completed with great memories had by all.
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