Mt. Rushmore and the move East.....

So, last time we connected, we let you know that we were going to spend some time in South Dakota..... And we did... Wednesday, we spent the day at Custer State Park and visited Mt. Rushmore - twice... I will explain in a moment.... Custer State Park was really beautiful. We mainly drove the Wildlife Loop and there was plenty to see. We saw the wild Burros, many Pronghorn Antelope, and of course, hundreds of Buffalo. And the views were spectacular. We had a picnic lunch, and then ventured out of the park to see Mt. Rushmore. WOW!!!! What an amazing sight! Having the benefit of seeing this for the first time with the kids was really special. The kids were able to connect the movie National Treasure 2 with Mt. Rushmore and the neighboring Sylvan Lake. We actually watched the movie again last night and got a kick out of seeing the very places that we just visited.... We ran back to camp and quickly barbequed some buffalo burgers, and went back to see the evening lighting of Mt. Rushmore. They have a tremendous evening program where they show a movie about the 4 presidents and why each of them was chosen for the sculpture. It was a spectacular movie that reminds us of how our country was founded and the principles our nation stands for..... After the movie, they invited all past and present military service people to come up to the stage and be recognized - among them was our new homeschooling friend, Clay, who is a Captain with the Navy. He was asked to assist in lowering the flag. After the flag is lowered and folded, all on stage pass the folded flag to each of the military service people - there were over 150 of them - it was really emotional and patriotic. Our family loved it.... Then, the finale is the illuminating of the presidents - what a moment - it was terrific!! We said our goodbyes to Clay, Loralee and their kids since they had to shove off early Thursday morning and make their way to Boston by Sunday. We got up Thursday and puttered around camp for a while and then decided to tour the neighboring cities of Deadwood and Sturgis - via the Needles Highway. The Needles Highway was absolutely the coolest - rock formations that "spire" up into the air, looking like needles raising up to the sky. And some of the tunnels that we drove through we so narrow, that you could put your hands out of either side of the car and touch both sides of the tunnel - which the kids did! As for Sturgis and Deadwood??? We were not too impressed - lots of Harley Davidsons - not that I have anything against them.... Deadwood is primarily a gambling town, and Sturgis? Again, the Harley Davidson factor was too high for us.... We got up yesterday and started to move East. Nancy and the kids really want to go visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. She wrote the Little House on the Prairie and Little House in the Big Woods, and many other best selling books. So we travelled most of the day yesterday. We stopped by the famous Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota, since that's what all good tourists that travel on Interstate 90 do! We also went to Badlands National Park and found it very interesting..... We spent the night last night at a Walmart - yes, a Walmart in Pierre, SD, and worked our way towards Walnut Grove today. Our main stop today was the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota - google it - it has a very interesting history:) We will attend church locally tomorrow morning, and spend some time exploring the area of Walnut Grove tomorrow - then on to Southern Illinois to visit family and friends.... By the way, it is Matt's Birthday today, so we tried to make it fun by letting him choose our dinner and dessert locations.... We are staying tonight in a town of about 1,000 people and his options for dining were few - like 3 "restaurants" - he chose Dairy Queen for both! Yummy!!!
So, here are a few things we thought you might want to know about our trip.......... Matt's favorite thing so far was going to see the play Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in Yellowstone (he wants you to know that it was a comedy and he is not a dork). Allison's favorite event so far was the Cody Rodeo, and Kevin's favorite was the River Rafting Trip on the Yellowstone River. For Nancy, it was the lighting of Mt. Rushmore.... For me, it has been the pleasure of waking up to the family every morning, knowing that I get to be with them all day - it may sound trite but it's true..... We will keep you in the loop on what is happening. Also, thanks for the comments! We are all a little homesick and it is so nice to hear from our family and friends:) May God bless you!!! Eric