South Dakota

We just got back from a trip to South Dakota with some of Shane's family and I thought I would share some photos. We left on Wednesday and drove straight through (a twelve hour drive). I was really dreading such a long car trip with Drake, but he did great and only really started complaining about the last 45 minutes and that was because Daddy pointed out "Crazy Horse" and Drake couldn't see it, so it caused stress.

On Thursday we went to the Mammoth dig which was really cool. There were literally thousands of bones in the pit. I was really impressed.

Then we went to Evan's Plunge which is a fun little water park. Shane took Drake on the water slide and he seemed to be ok with it, but I think it scared him a bit. He kind of had a look on his face like he knew he should like it, but he really didn't. Thursday night we went to Mt. Rushmore, and the photos just don't do it justice. It was so cool.

Friday we went to Bear Country and learned that bears can be taught to be pack animals. LOL We first drove through the park and there were so many bears, just wandering through the fields and by the side of the road.

Then we walked through this part where they had baby bears. It was so fun to just sit and watch them play and run around.

In the afternoon we went to Reptile Gardens which was fun. We got to see a little snake show, a bird show and an alligator show. This guy showed us how to "control" an alligator. It made me nervous just to watch him in this enclosure with a couple dozen alligator. But it was really cool.

Friday night we went to a chuck wagon dinner and show, which was this group of fiddle players. It was ok, but not my favorite part of the trip. Drake was really restless so I ended up taking him outside so he could run around. At least the show was loud enough that I could hear it.

Saturday we went on a train ride, which was the highlight of Drake's trip. He was so excited to ride a real train. It was pretty fun.

Then we went to a gold mine and it could have been fun, but our tour guide was a bit weird (ok, a lot weird). But Shane bought me a ring with Black Hill's gold in it, so that made me happy. After that we were "funned out", so we just had dinner and took the kids to the pool.

All in all it was a fun trip and Shane's family is a joy to travel with. Thanks to his sister Melanie for planning such a fun trip.