Rest of the Dakotas!

Just pretend like it's still June...

 

The next couple days were full of tourist stops. First up, The Mammoth Site. Josh and I were blown away by how much we enjoyed this place. What we thought had the potential to be a tour of a boring museum, ended up being this awesome archeological dig site they have built a building around so they can dig year round, and they are finding SO many bones of woolly mammoths and other smaller animals. It was so cool to be able to walk through the actual dig site and see so many bones still in their original 'resting place.'

Next we drove to Wind Cave National Park and went on a tour of the cave. It was so unique because the water level is so low in the cave that there aren't stalagtites or stalagmites like we have seen in any other cave we have been to. I ended up carrying Naomi because I was short enough to walk through all the narrow/low places without banging Naomi's head ;-)

Naomi gave into the dark, cool environment part way in...

That afternoon we drove the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. It was a beautiful day and we saw a plethora of animals out and about. And despite all the signs and brochures and verbal warnings against approaching any of the wildlife, we joined the hoards of people that were parking and walking up to feed and pet the burros. Naomi had no fear and huge smiles!

While buffalo/bison were incredible to see this close up...by the end of the trip we had seen so many it was like seeing another dog at the local park...

That night we had our first official night of camping. We had a nice, quiet spot in Wind Cave National Park, cooked sausages over the fire, went for a walk, and went to bed pretty early!

The next day was Father's day and we started it off by driving to Crazy Horse, a memorial to the Native American people who were ousted from their land without a backward glance. This memorial has been in progress for decades and honestly isn't even close to being done; but the reason it is taking so long is because they refuse to accept any federal funding and are doing it as private donations come in.  Josh and I were both inspired by the dedication of everyone who has worked on and supported such a massive undertaking!

Mt. Rushmore would fit in what will be Crazy Horse's hair when it is finished. His face is 9 stories tall!

The statue of what the final product is supposed to look like

Next we went to see the monument to some of our founding fathers, and sent texts to our fathers from there wishing them a Happy Father's Day (seeing a theme here? We do what we can...). And Naomi's father displayed his maturity for all to see as he asked to have his picture taken picking Abraham Lincoln's nose ;-)

Then we drove to Center Lake, our camping site for the next two nights. It was a beautiful site next to a lake. We had the nicest neighbors and even had dinner with them that night, enjoying conversation around the campfire until late into the evening. Naomi had fun in the tent as we relaxed for part of the afternoon:

Then "we" went swimming in the lake. The water was freezing but Naomi could've cared less...she loved the water, the sand, and all the other kids running around and splashing cold water on each other (I was just thankful daddy doesn't mind cold water!)

The next day we hiked to Harvey Peak, the highest point east of the Rockies and west of the Pyrenees Mountains in Europe! Don't be too impressed, it was just over 7,000 ft and wasn't too strenuous of a climb...but it was a fun thing to experience none the less! There was this awesome lookout tower on top of the point that we enjoyed lunch at:

And the view was beautiful from up there

And along the trail we got to enjoy these awesome rock formations called 'The Needles'

 The next morning we packed up and headed for North Dakota. We spent the night in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. And explored it a bit the next morning, although the storms moved in so we didn't do too much outside of the car.

Naomi enjoyed being out of the car and being able to explore that first evening :)

 This park was another pleasant surprise! We added it to our itinerary because we had to get from South Dakota to northern Montana somehow, so why not pick a path that goes through another national park?? This park was a combination of the Petrified Forest's Painted Desert and the Badlands, with beautiful greenery added to the mix. The colors were incredible, and if we lived near this little gem we said we would go exploring in it all the time!

...Wyoming and Montana coming up next!