Guess how we spent our Memorial Day weekend...

Decided to take a little road trip...here's the run-down:

SATURDAY: We managed to get on the road just before 8:00 am and headed for South Dakota! Along the way, we taught the boys how to play the alphabet game…not an easy feat on the backroads of Wyoming. Regardless, we managed miraculously to finish the alphabet twice before hitting South Dakota. (We worked as a team, except for Micah who was marching to his own beat and using a magazine he’d found in the van.)

Made it to Hot Springs, SD around lunch time and grabbed some food before checking in to our hotel. Having rested briefly, we then drove up to Mt. Rushmore where the boys had a fabulous time seeing the amazing mountain, walking the Presidential Trail, and completing the booklets to earn their Junior Ranger badges. (Honestly, the boys *loved* Mt. Rushmore, which surprised me a little, as there's not much to "do" there, kwim? So glad they enjoyed themselves, though!)

We took the scenic route back to the hotel (around Custer State park along a rather windy road, complete with one lane tunnels and bridges). Asher and Micah found that delightful, though Noah and I were a bit queasy. ;)

SUNDAY: Full, full day. After breakfast, we drove to Jewel Cave, stopping to photograph the buffalo along the way. (Yes, they were really that close to our van...no zoom was used at all and that's our passenger side mirror.)

Once at Jewel Cave, we took the scenic tour…a 1 hour 20 minute tour through ½ mile of the second longest cave in the world, complete with 723 steps and fascinating scenery. (Hooray for Micah finally being old enough to do things like this!! Such a trooper!) The boys particularly liked the huge “bacon” feature:

as well as the “popcorn” and “Jabba the Hut (flow stone).” Upon resurfacing, we ate a picnic lunch and then completed the boys’ Junior Ranger booklets for yet another badge. (Have I mentioned how much they like the Junior Ranger programs? We've done them at Rocky Mountain National Park also.)

Heading back to Hot Springs, we hit Evans Plunge, a natural warm water indoor swimming pool heated with mineral water from thermal springs. Nathan and the boys took turns trying out the various water slides, with Asher getting in the most runs. (Sorry, I didn't bother taking the camera in, lol.)

After the swimming break, we scooted over to the Mammoth Site (also in Hot Springs) and took a quick tour there. The Mammoth Site is a non-profit research facility where you can see first-hand an active paleontological dig site where 58 mammoths have been found. The scale and detail were amazing! During the summers, apparently, kids and adults can even participate in some of the digging!

Here's some of the actual dig site...right along the tour path!

And here's us next to a silhouette of a Columbian mammoth to show the scale:

Whew. After all that, we decided to get a bit of driving out of the way before stopping for dinner…a choice that was almost the wrong one. It took us three towns or so before finding one that had any open restaurants. (Remember, too, that the towns are few and far between in South Dakota and Wyoming, lol.) We finally sat down at a quarter to nine, just before they closed. The meal, though, was delicious and worth the wait! And it was a nice way to break up the driving. We did the last 2.5-3 hours of driving after that, arriving home at about 12:30 at night and falling into bed. 

MONDAY: After sleeping in, eating lunch and then finishing the unpacking, the boys talked Nathan into a front yard water fight.

Nathan couldn’t convince any of the boys to be on his team but soon discovered that the bucket that we normally use for refilling worked well for dousing boys. ;) Between that, the hose, and the sprinkler, the boys had a blast. A fabulous way to end the three day weekend!

Hope your weekend was as memorable as ours!

Comments

[nan]

What a blast! Totally outshines our camping weekend!