South Dakota: Alpine Slide

Sean had done some research before we left on fun things to do in the black hills and the Alpine Slide caught his eye. You take a chair lift to the top and ride down the mountain on a cart. It looked like a lot of fun so all the kids loaded up and we drove to Keystone, SD. It was a blast!

South Dakota: Mammoth Dig Site

On the second big day of the vacation we all loaded up in our respective vehicles and made the trek over to Hot Springs, SD to see the Mammoth Dig site. I'd heard about it and thought the kids might want to see it too. It was very interesting! A pit developed from shifting plates causing a hot spring hole to develop. This was warm water even in the dead of winter, which allowed grasses to grow along it's edge (can you imagine the lure of fresh green grass in winter?). It brought in adolescent male mammoths who would fall in due to the slippery mud along the edges and they couldn't get out. This "pit" was discovered when a housing development was getting ready to be built and the bulldozer clearing the land unearthed a skull. They have found 62 mammoths so far but the pit just keeps going down.

A building was built over the dig site and it's still an active dig site. Eight weeks out of the year people are digging and unearthing bones. They leave them where they find them. It was truly fascinating for adults and kids alike.

For a small additional fee you can sign your kids up for an extended tour that includes their own dig site and instructions on how the professionals dig up bones. Real (giant) mammoth bones were cast and the replicas were buried for the kids to unearth. They had to identify the bones they unearthed from a poster. They had a great time!

The kids loved this!

It was fun figuring out which bone was which.

The entire group!

On the way out you are able to buy a bag of sand and use the flowing water out front to pan for gold, or in this case fossils and rocks. Each kid bought a bag of sand and we weren't expecting much but they each got a big back of fossils like shark teeth and interesting rocks. It was fun!

South Dakota: Mount Rushmore

We recently returned from a lovely trip to South Dakota. Sean's brother lives in the Black Hills and we decided a family reunion was over due. So we all met at a cabin we rented near Custer. Custer is a nice location because it's right in the middle of all the fun things to do in the Black Hills. We used Homeaway this year instead of Airbnb or vrbo and were pleasantly surprised by the house we found (it wasn't listed on any other site). It was big enough for three families (with Sean's parents and brother staying in their campers in the driveway). There were paths around the house for the kids to run around on and many things to do in the house.

The first day we ventured out to see Mount Rushmore since it was only 20 minutes away. Many things had changed since my first visit there 17 years ago. They added a large parking garage and getting in and out of the location was quite smooth. There was no admission to see Mount Rushmore but parking was $10. Unfortunately they started some demolition projects just two days before we arrived and were met with the sound of jackhammers. Not sure what they were improving but it didn't stop us from getting a good view of Mount Rushmore. It's quite a sight to see!

Cousins!

Sean and his brothers and parents.

Betsy and Emery

My sister and I.

There was a hiking path around the side of the mountain that led you to another observation deck and the artist studio. The studio was neat to see because it had the scaled down sculpture of the completed mountain as it was supposed to look. We had a great time!

Notice the clothing that was supposed to be there.

It was a HOT day!

Birthday Boy!

Wesley got to celebrate his birthday on vacation again. Last years cake by the ocean is hard to top but this year surrounded by cousins and family is pretty close! Happy 12th birthday Wesley!

We got home and Aunt Jessica was kind enough to make Wesley a birthday cake so we could celebrate with them too. Plus he needed his annual birthday hat picture....12 years and counting with the hat!