Pictures from Vacation Day 5 (and lots of them!)

We took A LOT of pictures on this day!

Bruce and the girls heading up the alpine slide



The white building in the background is our hotel. That's how close we were to the alpine slide!


B2 coming down


B1 coming down


Bruce coming down


Me coming down


The girls and I heading back up.....



And back down.....because it literally began raining as soon as we got off the platform to go up. They wouldn't let us slide down because the brakes on the cars don't work when the track is wet and we were pretty soaked by the time we rode the lift back down, which is why we are acting like we are crying! Good thing our hotel was so close so we could go change clothes! Ha!


Even the heads on Mt. Rushmore looked like they were crying in the rain!


Crazy Horse Monument.....this is as close as we got to it; we didn't pay the $$$ to actually go into the gates so we just took pics from the outside.


The next 15 pictures are of the burros (donkeys) in Custer State Park. Before we left, someone had told us to bring crackers for them. We are so glad we did because they LOVED being fed, and we LOVED laughing about it! They were very friendly and I petted their noses too.
















We aren't exactly sure what this animal is. It kind of looks like a deer, but then again, not really.


Herd of buffalo in Custer State Park






Waiting for him to cross the road!

Pictures from Vacation Day 4

First of all.....the Disney countdown ticker is now UNDER 1 YEAR!!!!!


These are the pictures we took on the day we went to Mt. Rushmore. We went there first during the day, then went back to the hotel and rested/swam, and then back again at night for the lighting ceremony.

We are all wearing shirts from our town because the St. Louis newspaper runs a picture in the travel section of people wearing clothing from anywhere local (but they say the Cardinals and the Blues get used a lot) when they are on vacation at a well-known place. We are hoping to have our picture printed in the paper.


See the second flag pole back on the left side? On the front side of that pole is a white flag flying. It is the Illinois flag. There is one flag there for each state. They call it the "Avenue of Flags."








You can see the Illinois flag again here. Second pole back on the left side again.

Pictures from Vacation Day 3

Here are the pictures that correspond with DAY 3 of our trip:

This is a statue of Wild Bill Hickok, which was outside out hotel.


The girls panning for gold.....


And the gold that they found, inside two little jars.


We drove over to Devil's Tower, which is in Wyoming. This was a side trip while we were staying in Deadwood. On the drive, we stopped at 3 different scenic trails which all lead to waterfalls. These next pictures are from those trails.






And the 29th state that B1 and B2 have been in.....Wyoming!


Devil's Tower.....


Pretty much, a big rock-like thing sticking up from the ground and that's about it! Ha ha!

Pictures from Vacation Day 2

OK, I will start posting some pictures from each day of our vacation. If you a friend of mine on Facebook, you may have seen some of these already. I already posted a couple pics from Day 1 earlier(when all we really did was drive). Here are some photos from DAY 2 of our trip.

You see tons of billboards for Wall Drug in South Dakota. We counted 86 of them along I-90 on the east side of Wall, heading west. This was one of my favorites.


Downtown Deadwood, SD


Wild Bill Hickok's grave marker in Mt. Moriah Cemetery


The view of Deadwood from Mt. Moriah Cemetery


Kids are allowed to be in the casinos in Deadwood so B1 and B2 got to watch us play. They particularly liked it when we played the "Deal or No Deal" machines (penny slots) because we would ask for their input on which cases to pick!


The original Saloon #10, where Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the head and killed during a card game on August 2, 1876.


B1 and B2 with some street characters who had reenacted a shootout.


B1 wearing my cowboy hat.


B1 got to participate in a reenactment of Wild Bill's shooting. She was one of the "other" card players in the game.


Smiling for the camera.....


What's in that shot glass?


"Wild Bill" has now joined the game!


And Wild Bill has now been shot! Brittany's character had to yell, "Don't shoot me, Jack!" Jack McCall was the name of the shooter and you can see him running down the hall in the back of the picture.


B1 posing with "Wild Bill Hickok" and "Jack McCall"


Posing for a picture at a table in the front of the saloon.

Vacation Day 10

Friday, July 9, 2010: We didn’t get up until about 9:00 this morning. We had a $20 breakfast coupon to use again at Bennigan’s so that’s where we ate before getting on the road. Bruce wanted to go back into Iowa (Davenport) to look in the souvenir shop at the minor league ball team there, which is an affiliate of the Cardinals. We then headed for home. We stopped in Lincoln for gas and snacks and again in Springfield so I could get a Jimmy John’s sub (yummo!) for lunch, which was more like a mid-afternoon meal. We arrived home at about 3:00pm and unloaded the car before the girls and I went to get Shinza from the boarding place. She was happy to see us! We are now unpacking and doing laundry. It is good to be home!

New states for B1 on this trip: South Dakota and Wyoming. I think she has now been in about 30 states.

New state for B2 on this trip: Kansas, South Dakota, and Wyoming. She has now been in the same number of states as B1.

We always keep track of the license plates we see while on vacation and I believe we saw more this time than any other. We saw license plates for every state in our union except Delaware, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. We also did not see the District of Columbia (Washington, DC.) plate. We also saw plates for 4 provinces (Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan).

We put 2780 miles on the Honda Pilot this trip, which is an average of about 278 miles a day! WOW!

It's only about 6 or so months now until I can make our Disney dining reservations for VACATION 2011. Yep - I'm a little excited about it!

I will post pictures from each day of our trip as I get the time here in the next couple of weeks.

Vacation Day 9

Thursday, July 8, 2010: We woke up about 8:00 this morning and ate breakfast at the hotel before getting on the road. Our first stop was in Clear Lake, Iowa at the site where on 2/2/59, a plane went down which was carrying Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. They were young musicians at the time and had performed that night along with Waylon Jennings, who chose not to ride the plane to the next stop. All 3 musicians and the pilot were killed in the crash and the song "American Pie" by Don McLean was inspired by this tragedy. The site that we saw was in the middle of a corn field but there was a marker at the edge of the field and a pathway which led to 2 small memorial markers at the site. We then drove into town and got lunch at McDonald’s (Bruce and me) and Casey’s (the girls). We ate in the car while we drove towards Dyersville and the Field of Dreams. We arrived there at about 2:45 and there were probably 20 cars in the parking lot as well as some bicycles. People were playing ball on the field, playing catch, and taking pictures. We did all of those things and took pictures of the 4 of us standing at the edge of the corn field too. We stayed there about an hour or so, bought some souvenirs, and then left. We drove as far as Rock Island, IL where we found a Holiday Inn to stay at for tonight. We got here at about 6:30pm. There is a Bennigan’s Restaurant attached to the hotel so we went there for dinner. We all went to the pool at about 8:30 and swam until 10:00, then came up to the room and Bruce and I began to teach the girls how to play euchre, which went pretty well! It is now almost 11:30pm and we are heading to bed.

Vacation Day 8

Wednesday, July 7, 2010: We started the day with breakfast at Burger King and then we were on the road to Minneapolis and the Mall of America! We arrived at the mall at about 10:30am and got a great parking spot outside one of the main entrances. Once inside, we all got maps and got acclimated to where we were. We also peeked in at the amusement park, which is now a Nickelodeon Park instead of Camp Snoopy like it was the last 2 times Bruce and I were here. We walked around the first floor of the mall, which is shaped like a big square with stores on both sides of the hallway and the amusement park in the center part of the square. After completing the first floor, we bought tickets for the amusement rides. The 4 of us all rode the roller coaster and then the girls rode another coaster which is kind of like the Tony Hawk ride at 6 Flags in St. Louis. After that, we were hungry and had lunch (it was now about 1:45pm) at one of the food courts so we could all get what we wanted. I had food from an Asian place and it tasted really good! We next did the 3rd floor of the mall. There is a cheese store on the 3rd floor which I remember from both of my other 2 trips and I love it! They have free samples! I tried several of them and then decided which ones I was going to go back and purchase later in the day. Then we finished off riding the rides. We all rode the log flume (this one and the one at the Magic Kingdom at Disney World are the 2 best I’ve ever rode), the girls and I rode a “drop” ride, and Bruce and B1 rode the roller coaster again while B2 did some kind of climbing thing where she had to wear a harness. Then we shopped on the 2nd floor (the 4th floor only has some restaurants, offices, a comedy club, and movie theater so we didn’t go up there) and finally, at about 8:00pm, ate dinner at an Italian restaurant which was really good! Then I went back and got my cheese and we left. It was a really good day although we probably spent too much money! Ha ha! We drove just a little south and are now at a Comfort Inn for the night.

Vacation Day 7

Tuesday, July 6, 2010: We woke up today after 9:00am and once we got ready, we headed for the closest gas station to get something to eat for breakfast/lunch. Bruce and I decided before we left the hotel that since we finished all of the sights we wanted to see in South Dakota a bit early, we would add a day at the Mall of America to our itinerary! We did not, however, tell the girls about this right away. We had to drive about 2 hours to get to Mitchell and the Corn Palace. It’s kind of like a small convention center with a gym floor in the middle of it. We found out that the local basketball team plays their games there and so does a local college in Mitchell. The gym floor, now, however, is covered with souvenirs! Go figure! We did buy a few things of course and at the “corn-cession” stand, Bruce bought 2 buttered ears of corn while the girls and I had popcorn. We left there and then drove on 2-lane highways for about 76 miles to reach DeSmet, SD. DeSmet is one of the childhood homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder. We visited the Ingalls Homestead which included all 160 acres of their property, a barn in the same spot where theirs was located, a house in the original spot, and several other sites to see. It was pretty neat! We also went into the town and drove to the cemetery, where Pa, Ma, Mary, Carrie, and baby AJ Wilder are buried. After we made it back to the interstate (about 6pm), we let the girls in on the secret that we were adding something to the trip, but we didn’t tell them what it was. We, instead, gave them some little clues so they could try to figure it out. We stopped in Sioux Falls for dinner at an Arby’s and continued driving. The girls figured it out shortly thereafter and were excited. The last time we were at the Mall of America was in 2003 when B1 was 6 and B2 was 3. We are staying tonight in Albert Lea, MN at a Super 8 Hotel.

Vacation Day 6

Monday, July 5, 2010: We got up again at 8:45 today and chose not to eat the breakfast at the hotel. Instead, we drove to Rapid City and had lunch (at 10:30) at McDonald’s. This was actually the first time we ate at a McDonald’s on this trip! There was a sports card shop across the street from the McDonald’s so Bruce and the girls went in there after we got done eating and then we headed towards Wall. We arrived in Wall about 12:15 and began looking at the shops and at Wall Drug. I had been at Wall Drug as a child but I really don’t remember a whole lot about it except that I thought it was big. We spent quite a bit of time there and just went slowly, looking at everything. We did some of the free ice water! We had ice cream in their soda fountain area about 3:00 and finally left there a little after 4:00. We decided to go ahead and head to the Badlands National Park. We drove the south-eastern loop of the park and entered it just about 8 miles from Wall. We were in the park until maybe 6:30pm, having stopped a few times to look at scenery and take pictures. We also stopped (of course) at the gift shop. We got back on I-90 and continued east until we got to Murdo, SD, where we stopped and ate dinner at a place called the Rusty Spur. The time had changed and by the time we got done with dinner, it was after 9:00pm. We then decided to try to find a hotel in this town and succeeded with a Super 8. Once again, we played some cards in the room and now it is almost midnight so we are heading to bed soon!

Vacation Day 5

Sunday, July 4, 2010: We woke up this morning after sleeping until about 8:45, got showered, and went downstairs for the continental breakfast. We then went over to the alpine slide with the intentions of using the remainder of our tickets. Bruce and the girls rode up and back down first and I took pictures of them. Then it began to rain a little. But then it stopped so the girls and I got on the chairlift to the top. Pretty much, as soon as we got going, the rain began harder and by the time we got to the top, we were pretty darn wet! They, of course, would not let us ride down on the alpine slide but they would like us ride back down on the chairlift and then get a rain check for later in the day. So that’s what we did. We then had to come back to the hotel room and dry off and change all of our clothes! Gees! Our next stop was supposed to be the Crazy Horse Memorial. We got there, however, and the cost to go in was $27/car. It was raining pretty hard by now too and rather cold for the 4th of July! So we chose not to go in. We could see the monument good enough from where we were so we took a few pictures and went on. Someone had told us anyway that it really wasn’t worth the money. They have been working on this monument for 62 years now and only really have the face done! We then drove to Custer (the town) and ate lunch at the Wrangler Café, which was pretty good despite a bus boy in there that had some serious BO! We then headed to Custer State Park. We ended up spending probably 3 hours driving through there and also stopped at a little country store. We saw several deer and finally, after quite a while, saw some burros and buffalo. The burros came right up to the cars and were looking for food! We had heard about this and so we were prepared by bringing crackers along for them. They stuck their heads right into our car and we all thought it was pretty cool! When we saw the buffalo, first we saw a group of about 50 of them and then a herd of probably 500! It was amazing and we had to wait for some to cross the road before we could drive through. We DID NOT try to feed them! We finally got back to Keystone around 6:15pm. We went back to the alpine slide so B1, B2, and I could do our ride and then we ate dinner uptown at Ruby’s Restaurant. We came back to the hotel and Bruce and the girls swam a little while, while I tried to do some laundry but the machines were busy until about 9:40. I am now waiting for laundry to get done! There is a game room caddy-corner across the hall from our room so we are playing around in there now until we go to bed.

Vacation Day 4

We did not have internet access at our last hotel so I did not get to post anything! I am catching up now.....

Saturday, July 3, 2010: Today we got up and once again had breakfast at the hotel, which was serving a little different food than yesterday. We checked out of the hotel and left Deadwood, heading to Keystone. We took a 2-lane highway to get there, which had pretty scenery along the way. We drove into Keystone through the commercial, touristy district and quickly found out hotel, the Roosevelt Inn. We did not check in yet though, as we went straight to Mt. Rushmore, getting there around 12:00. We took lots of pictures and walked the path that takes you as close to the monument as possible. We looked in the museum, watched the film, and talked to the park rangers a little. The monument is very impressive. We ate lunch around 2:00 at the restaurant there, went into the gift shop and bought several souvenirs and then finally left around 4:00. We checked into the hotel and then looked around in all of the little shops in downtown Keystone. We also went to the alpine slide, which is literally right next door to our hotel (good planning on my part, huh?). We all rode up and slid down once and decided to keep our extra tickets for tomorrow. We then went back to the hotel and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which is a pizza place and it was really good. We went to our hotel room for a little while after dinner and rested before heading back to Mt. Rushmore for the evening lighting. We arrived there at about 8:45 and found a seat in the amphitheater. It was raining just a little bit so we all took our umbrellas along. It was also chilly outside so we wore our jackets and hoodies. The orchestra in the amphitheater played patriotic music while the lighting took place. We kind of thought there might be a laser light show or colored lights but there was not. It was just white/yellow lighting on the monument at night but it was nice and again, impressive. I learned today that during the carving of Mt. Rushmore, there were NO casualties! I think that is amazing, considering they used a lot of explosives, people were hanging by harnesses every day, and the whole carving took 14 years to complete. We then came back to the hotel and went to bed. B2 is sleeping in the king size bed with me and Bruce while B1 is sleeping on a single-sized pull out couch bed. This was the only option that I could find available to us when I made this reservation. But with it being 4th of July weekend, we thought we better take it!

Vacation Day 3

Friday, July 2, 2010: We woke up this morning and again had breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast room is on the same floor as our room. We then headed out and went to the Broken Boot Gold Mine, which is right outside Deadwood. We took a tour of the mine and then the girls panned for gold and actually got a few little pieces each (according to the tour guide, each of them got about $3 worth of gold). We drove through Lead and stopped at a bar called Lewie’s to pick up a T-shirt for someone back home. Then we took a scenic bypass road on our way to Devil’s Tower. The bypass took us past 3 waterfalls. The first one was about a mile walk off of the road. The second maybe a half-mile walk and the 3rd was right along the road. We ate lunch at a restaurant in Spearfish that looked like a lodge. I cannot remember the name of the restaurant but it was good. It took about another hour to get to Devil’s Tower from there. We did stop at the Wyoming welcome sign and took a picture of the girls there. This is another new state for both of them. We started to see Devil’s Tower from a distance but it still took a little while to drive there! Once there, we walked up a path and took some pictures as well as going into the park service building and reading about the monument. This was the first national monument in the US. We stopped at the Devil’s Tower Outpost on the way out of the park and bought some souvenirs and ice cream. We then drove back to Deadwood and arrived here maybe around 6:00pm. We parked the car at the other end of Main Street (where we had not really looked around much yet) and went into some shops. We also gambled in a couple casinos. Kids are allowed to be in the casinos here. They just cannot touch the machines. So Bruce and I played “Deal or no Deal” slots for awhile and let the girls stand behind us and watch. It was fun! Finally, around 8:00, we went to one of the casino’s buffets for dinner, which tonight included prime rib and crab legs. It wasn’t like a buffet in Vegas or even the St. Louis casinos though……not much selection at all and everything shoved into one little space. Oh well. I them gambled some more while Bruce and the girls came back to the hotel and swam. When I got back to the hotel, they got out of the pool. Bruce changed clothes and went out to the casinos for a while (he is actually still there) while the girls and I finished our card game from last night. We are now going to bed.

Vacation Day 2

OK.....I am having some problems getting pictures to load on blogger using our laptop. Last night, after wrestling with it for awhile, I finally got it to work. But I don't want to have to take the time to do this every night. It takes away from my vacation. So I am just going to copy and paste my word document each night about what we did that day and then once we get home, I will take some days to load some of the pictures from our trip. OK?

Here is today's summary:

Thursday, July 1, 2010: We got up this morning and had breakfast at the hotel. It was basically a continental breakfast plus pancakes. We continued our drive and stopped at a Black Hills welcome center, which had a lot of information and a gift shop. We then finally came into Deadwood. It is a neat-looking old western town which reminds me of Cripple Creek from last year’s trip. We were not able to check into our hotel because it was too early so we had the car parked and headed uptown. We ate lunch at a place called Mustang Sally’s, which was mainly burgers and fries. Then we headed towards Saloon #10 where right outside, we signed up for a bus tour leaving at 2:15. The tour guide was very informative and took us all around Deadwood, explaining lots of stuff as we drove. The tour also took us to Mt. Moriah (aka Boot Hill), which is where Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane are buried. He explained both of those people to us and come to find out, they were NOT lovers or even involved with each other much at all. I am glad we took that tour as I learned a lot from the guide. After getting off the tour bus, we found a place to watch a staged shootout on the street (wasn’t all that great really) and then went back to Saloon #10 where we watched a staged reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill. B1 got to take part in the action and played the part of one of the card players who was at the table when Wild Bill got shot. I took several picture of her. That reenactment was much better! Once we left there, we came back to our hotel and checked into the room. Bruce and the girls swam for a little while and I went and gambled. Bruce and I have decided (from just the little we have done so far) that the machines in Deadwood are tight! Not the “loosest slots” like those on the Casino Queen…..haha! We then headed a few doors down and ate dinner at Gem’s Steakhouse inside the Mineral Point Casino. The meal was OK but nothing special. I was hungry for steak though so it was satisfying. Bruce is out gambling now and the girls and I are in the hotel room. We might play a game of cards and just watch some TV before going to bed later.