Monday June 11, 2018
Big day! Today we go see Mount Rushmore, the event this entire trip was planned around!
We woke Brady up with wrapped birthday presents and allowed him to play his new Nintendo game while we made breakfast, then we were off for a full day of adventure.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY!
We were able to leave camp set up while we were gone during the day. We took our valuables with us and locked the camper. The drive to Mount Rushmore was only about 45 minutes. It was a very interesting drive through the beautiful Black Hills. We were challenged by many one lane bridges and tunnels. Crazy to think that campers and RV’s drive though there!
The actual park area of Mount Rushmore was way smaller than I expected. It was not crowded the Monday we went. It could have been a zoo! I got some great pictures with my good camera (not iPhone).
We spent a good amount of time in the museum watching the short movies and learning about the history of Mount Rushmore. Both kids completed a Junior Ranger Badge here too! I found it interesting how the monument needs to be constantly monitored for cracking and repairs. Wonder how many years until a nose falls off…looks like Lincoln was close…Did you know that the pretty much the entire monument was shaped with dynamite? Very little was hand chipped away. They had blasting down to a perfect science.
Our evening plans included a Chuckwagon dinner at the Circle B Ranch. This did not start until 6pm. To kill time between Mt Rushmore and dinner we stopped in the the town of Hill City. Very cute town. Lots of art galleries and hand made wooden/metal crafts. We stumbled upon an amazing mini museum too! Everything Prehistoric. They had so many fossils of dinosaurs, mammoth and other animals, some that were found in the area too. Everything Prehistoric also had an impressive display of minerals.
That evening we attended a Chuckwagon dinner at the Circle B Ranch. This was a lot of fun. Before the dinner they had activities for the kids like lasso a bull, pistol shooting and panning for gold. Dinner was good old fashioned “slap it in the tin” type of serving style. Baked potato, beans, beef brisket and applesauce. We sat at picnic tables and enjoyed our dinner while the entertainers (who were also the ranch owners) sang and played fiddle. The owners made a special shout out during their show to Brady the Birthday Boy! That totally embarrassed him as you can imagine.
The Circle B also has cabins you can stay in (if you are not wanting to camp in the area) and other activities a-la-cart such as horseback riding, swimming pool, four wheeling trails and more. We were just guests for dinner this day.
That was a fun filled day, the longest day by far on our trip to S Dakota. We arrived back at camp pretty late and went to bed…no fishing, not paddling, we all were just exhausted!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY!
Live Love Littleton 