South Dakota: wrap-up

A few odds and ends to wrap up coverage of our trip...

We hiked to this creek, took a dip, and jumped off some of the rocks. Omri thought he may have found gold.

This root beer man tossed back his first sarsaparilla at dinner one night:

Veronica and R spent an afternoon horseback riding (this photo was taken by a pro at the ranch):

We stayed in this little cabin just outside of the town of Keystone:

Keystone is a fun, touristy town (I took some better photos of it with my film camera that I haven't had developed yet). 

If we'd had a little more time, we may have taken a ride on this steam engine:

This is a good ice cream place in town:

Here's the video I mentioned earlier, just compiling some clips from the whole trip, including jumping off those rocks into the water:

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The best part of the trip was just spending time with family. These kids are so much fun to hang out with and such super good sports!

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South Dakota: high ropes course

There were some other touristy but fun activities at the park where we went on our cave adventure. Veronica and I rode the rail ride (not pictured), while Omri and R did the ropes course.

R on the zipline:

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South Dakota: Rushmore Cave

One of the minor bummers from the trip was that the elevators were shut down at Wind Cave National Park, so we did not get to explore the caves there. Instead, we went to the cave at Rush Mountain Adventure Park. It was still cool!

Omri was a little nervous about entering the caves, but I'm proud of him for overcoming his fears!

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South Dakota: Mount Rushmore

Well, you had to know we would get to Mount Rushmore eventually. And of course I took a million photos there. Here's a sample.

We stayed for the lighting ceremony:

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South Dakota: Cosmos Mystery Area

This was kind of a fun stop, for something a little different, where water runs uphill and you feel a little tipsy walking through a cabin.

Veronica has been busy rehearsing for SpongeBob: The Musical, so she couldn't pass up this ice cream treat:

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South Dakota: Custer State Park

A walk around Lake Sylvan:

The paparazzi found them!

There was some really cold water here!

One of many scenic stops along Needles Highway:

These kids aren't tired of being in the car at all :-).

I have a video I will posting later on that will show more of the wildlife along the road.

Another stop to get out and move those legs:

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South Dakota: Crazy Horse

We didn't have definite plans to stop at Crazy Horse, but Omri expressed a lot of interest in it, and we were keeping the itinerary flexible, so we made the stop. We watched the documentary on it and saw some live Native American hoop dancing.

Some progress has been made on the carving since I last saw it at Omri's age. He's planning to check back in on it when he's my age.

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South Dakota, Badlands part 2

We went back to the Badlands the next day.

What amazing vistas!

Hiking the Notch Trail:

It felt like we were walking on Tatooine (from Star Wars):

A closer look at the ladder we climbed up and down:

Couple of iPhone shots mixed in here (sorry for the drop in quality):

Afterwards, we stopped at Firehouse Brewing in Rapid City, before heading into the Black Hills.

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