South Dakota Black Hills

    We spent 2 nights at Crystal Park Campground in Newcastle, WY when we picked Makayla up from Bible Camp. It's a very nice campground, if you're ok with a gravel lot with big trees and not many neighbors! We especially liked that they had price options with or without sewer and water hook-ups. Full-time family friends Bill and Lisa were there as well (their daughter also attended camp) so we spent our time wisely and cooked much delicious food and solved as many of the world's problems as possible.

Michael building a "trap" for to catch Ethan :)

The restaurant in action!

     Saturday morning we had to pick our girls by 7:30. After cooking up a great breakfast of pancakes and bacon, everyone scattered for some down time. Some slept, some watched a movie, and some hit the local thrift store :). One of my favorite things about this lifestyle is the chance to check out new thrifts stores in nearly every time. My deal this time was 4 Leapfrog DVD's for $1 each! We've been borrowing them and renewing at every library we can find them so this will be great. If you have 2-8 year olds I cannot recommend them enough! Fun little songs for phonics sounds, rules, and much more make learning a snap! We also had to stock up on groceries.

     Sunday we attended the local First Baptist Church since Jea and Makayla had a girl in their cabin at camp from there. After lunch together we packed up headed south into the Black Hills.

     We had found a boondocking spot near Custer State Park on freecampsites.net and headed there. The road got increasingly narrow and bumpy, especially considering that we were towing a 40 foot 5^th wheel! But, as the internet promised, there was beautiful meadow that was worth every bump. The children discovered wild raspberries on the hill and picked enough to make 2 pies plus we ate a lot!

Near dusk we drove to Custer State Park and drive through the Wildlife Loop. We saw lots of deer and a turkey with her babies before we ever got there! Once inside the park, we were thrilled to see a huge bull bison lazing in the shade of a tree. There was also antelope, prairie dogs, and wild burros to be seen.  

Monday we packed a picnic and drove the Needles Loop. I believe it was about 60 miles and took us through amazing country. We were disappointed that we didn't see more wildlife but the tunnels were a huge hit! 6 tunnels, cut out of the granite rocks were 1 lane only. The most narrow one gave us only 4 inches to spare! I think we were all holding our breath until we made it through without scraping! So yes, you do want to heed all the signs with the width and height warnings! The other cool feature is that several were engineered to frame Mt. Rushmore.

The best surprise was at the peak of Needles Pass where we spotted a small mountain goat lounging on the rocks while lots of crazy tourists took pictures. Parts of this road were so narrow and curvy it was nerve-racking! Most people were polite and took turns so that helped.

Another unexpected surprise was how awesome it was to view Mt. Rushmore from a distance. The loop took us past the Memorial and we didn't stop but still got some cool views. We thought it was cool to see men climbing on George Washington preforming maintenance!

Eye of the needle

Monday evening we drove the Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park again. We were so happy to see a large herd of bison and 4 bull elk!

It was to dark for any good pictures

 Tuesday we headed north towards "home". We drove past Crazy Horse Memorial but opted to just view it from the road instead of paying the high entry fee. It will be massive when it's done!

We had a lovely stop in Spearfish, South Dakota at the fish hatchery and Wal-mart to stock up on groceries. The hatchery was free and one of the best we've been too!

Tuesday evening we were back in Baker and happy to get settled in for a few weeks again :).

Boondocking near Rapid City, SD

     Most of the time we find our free campsites at freecampsites.net but sometimes there is just nothing in the area we need. It's especially frustrating when we know there is lots of National Forest in the area we just don't want to drive back dirt roads with our rig not knowing what we'll run into! After asking on a Facebook group, someone recommended this spot on Taylor Ranch Rd and it was perfect!

     30 minutes from Rapid City and Mount Rushmore, it's kind of between them. We had no Verizon or AT&T service. This small meadow was only 1/4 a mile off the paved road and easily has room for 3 or 4 other rigs. We did drive on back after unhooking and DO NOT recommend taking anything other then a truck camper further.

Here you can see the paved road and our campsite.

Looking on back the road. 

Emily was thrilled that I bought orange pop :)

 

The kids had a blast exploring!

I was thrilled that we didn't run into any ticks, snakes, or poison ivy.

Watching a storm roll in!

Michael helped Emily up a very steep hill on the other side of the road. Poor Ethan just couldn't keep up!

     Here is a dropped pin of this location. I also submitted it to freecampsites so hopefully he'll have it up soon!

Visiting Mount Rushmore

     Eldon had never been to Mount Rushmore and my memories are extremely faint. We loved watching the children view it for the first time and seeing the awe in their eyes and hearing it in there voices. We all tremendously enjoyed our day at this Monument.

     There is no admission cost, but you will need to pay a $10 parking fee. Also, there is RV parking but it's limited so if you have to take your rig, plan to get there early. We didn't have our rig and were still glad to get there early and beat the heat and crowds.

No picture can capture the size and impressive detail.

This is as good as it gets when it's so bright!

Viewing Washington from a crack in a cave roof :)

And there's Lincoln!

As close as we could get.

     It was 1925 when Federal and state legislation authorized the carving of a memorial in the Black Hills. Gutzon Borglum selected which presidents were to be memorialized and was in charge of the monument. Models were made and used as a guide when they began carving the heads. By the way, 90% of it was done by blasting with dynamite! The 400 workers got to be very good at what they were doing! There were no deaths in the 14 years of carving and hourly pay ranged from 35 cents to $1.50.

     Did you ever wonder why these 4 men were chosen by Gutzon? Me too. But now I know what each one symbolizes!

      George Washington: Birth. Leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolution and the "Father of our Country", Washington was a natural first choice.

      Thomas Jefferson: Growth. Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and doubled the size the US with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory.

      Theodore Roosevelt: Development. Roosevelt was instrumental in negotiating the construction of the Panama Canal, which linked the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as abolishing corporate monopolies and ensuring the rights of ordinary citizens. He also championed conservation legislation and set aside millions of acres of public land.

      Abraham Lincoln: Preservation. Lincoln was chosen for his devotion to restoring the Union and ending slavery.

Kids learning center.

Makayla especially loved this place. 

     On this picture you can some of the 450,000 tons of rock that was blasted from the mountain. Eventually, Ponderosa pines will be growing over that whole area.

We felt so tiny! The noses are about 20 feet long, to give you a little perspective.

Ethan didn't want to pose :)

     Sadly, Gutzon died before the monument was finished but his son, Lincoln Borglum oversaw the project until it's completion. His death, along with the impending World War II, had congress shut off funding and the monument was never completed. The original plan was to have waist up carvings and Susan B. Anthony was also to be added for contribution to Women's Rights. 

Jr. Ranger Badges completed!

Avenue of Flags

     Eldon and I agreed that it was more spectacular then we imagined. We spent close to an hour helping the children do their Jr. Ranger books and we learn so many interesting facts and history tidbits through that! I'm pretty thrilled that our parking pass is good for a year because if we get a chance, we'd love to go again!