This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Vacation 2016, Part 4
Dec
8
2016
Here’s a recap of our summer vacation. This year, it was driving to Mt. Rushmore.
Day 6
Up in the morning, another round of pancakes for breakfast, and we were off. Packed up the van, checked out of the hotel, and left Custer. Destination: just a couple hours northeast to Wall.
First stop: the Badlands.
Of course, we got in free again. Showed the gate attendant the 4th grade pass, and had the 4th grader wave to her because she had to verify we had him with us.
At first glance, the Badlands looks like a lot of nothing. And it is. But it’s a scenic nothing. In fact, if you look at it the right way, it can resemble the Grand Canyon.
We drove for a bit then stopped at a scenic overlook.
We ate our bag lunches in the van as we drove along the Badlands. It was just over 100 degrees outside, so we tried to enjoy the scenery from the comfort of the minivan as much as possible.
But I wanted the kids to have some vacation memories from outside the minivan, so I found a good place to stop and have the kids run around. Mainly it was good stopping point because it had a parking lot and bathrooms.
The kids did have fun running around, at least the younger 3 did. Alpha stayed in the van along with Some Wife. They were not fans of the heat.
Here’s a shot of the parking lot.
On the way through the park, there was a traffic jam. I’m not one for gawking, so it was slightly annoying that there were a bunch of cars stopped for some animals walking along the side of the road. If the animals had been in the road, I could understand waiting for them. But they were not blocking traffic. The ones blocking traffic were the people who stopped their car, got out with their camera, and took pictures. I was, out of principle, not going to take pictures, so as not to contribute to the problem. But since I was stopped with nowhere to go, I took some pictures so you can see what all the commotion was about.
We stopped at what we thought was the visitor center on the way out, but it was just a gift shop. We passed the visitor center shortly after that, but no one wanted to stop anymore so we continued to our next destination:
the Minuteman Missile Silo Museum.
It was interesting but small. Small because it wasn’t the actual missile silo. We got there too late in the day to go on a tour of the silo. Not that the tours were done for the day, but they were sold out already. So we looked at some exhibits, the kids learned how to duck and cover in case of an incoming atomic bomb, and they learned about the arms race with the Soviets.
That was over too quickly, because we still had an hour to kill before we could check into the our next hotel, which was just a few miles away in Wall.
The main thing that stood out to me upon leaving the museum is that it was so hot and so dry and if the museum hadn’t been there, there would not have been a bit of shade for miles. It would have been a very desolate place if not for a reliable minivan with air conditioning. I couldn’t help but wonder whatever induced settlers to start towns out there. Give me trees at least. I bet it’s just as bad in the dead of winter.
So to kill that hour or two, we saw – what else – Wall Drug.
They have a bunch of stuff. There are a numbers of stores, of course, but there are jackelope displays.
And a large T Rex that moves and roars and chomps at things.
There was a lot to see and thus, by the kids’ reasoning, a lot to buy. We instructed them on the art of surveying all the options and not just buying the first fun thing you see.
Then it was time to check into the hotel. Well, it wasn’t a hotel – it was a log cabin.
A couple of the boys said this was their favorite hotel. There was not much in the way of amenities, but I think they liked that they didn’t have to be quiet because the cabins were separate. In other hotels there was always someone below us or next to us. Here, they could jump off the beds or yell and not bother any other guests.
They were cozy little cabins. I opted for the kitchenette cabin, as opposed to the standard. It was only slightly more and slightly bigger. Two queen beds in the bedroom, one full bathroom, and a combination living room/kitchen with pull-out couch.
Along with lots of rustic/western theme decor, such as animal skulls and bear and moose items.
We had a dinner that we brought along and cooked there in the kitchen, then we went back to Wall Drug for ice cream (not worth it) and for the kids to finalize their souvenir purchases.
No pool at this hotel, so we watched America’s Got Talent (special vacation treat) and went to bed.
To be continued…
They journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.
Numbers 33:6
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 6:44 am and has been carefully placed in the Travel category.
