Day 4: Mount Rushmore area

Day 4: July 19

Friday & Saturday nights were spent at Rushmore Shadows Resort. Love how they all use the term "resort" but they are definitely not my definition of "resort". However, after touring all around the area Saturday, this place is premium compared to most we saw. We were lucky when we checked in to get a pull-thru site that faces a field & we have 10 times the room the other big rugs have. RV term for the day "pull-thru site" means you can pull in & out with your RV, Bus, Motorhome, Coach & a tow vehicle & not have to back in. If you ever stay here ask for site 13. 

There were awful thunderstorms all night Friday and woke me several times. So before 6 am mountain time, I was up & at 'me. Could be a little monster also was having an issue. Anyhow we were out the door by 9:30 & on our way to Mount Rushmore National Moument.  We choose to take the Presidental Walking tour at the base of the mountain. 

Lily loved talking to the park ranger about the Lakota Indians. She learned how they made their bows, which she's been practicing her shot with her own bow. 

Check out my mountain man! Camo, new hiking boots, his hiking stick that was a souviner from a Thanksgiving in Lake Lure two years ago. Seriously, best $15 souviner ever! He's taking his own photo of Mount Rushmore. 

When Lily was about 3, I started a passport book for Lily. At this time, Jason was traveling to Europe at least twice a year and she was curious.  We started a little 4x6 photo book of pictures, dates, and states traveled since she was born and we still use it. The National Park Service has a passport book for national monuments & parks. What a fun souvenir for them. They can check all that off as we go along and this trip will have a lot of stamps. 

We left amount Rushmore and headed through the Black Hills National Forrest and Custer State Park to the South. Amazing land, very curvy roads, with one lane tunnels. Definitely awesome to have the top off the jeep for this experience. This Route 16 led us to the Needles Highway. Holy Cow! So glad Aunt Patty & Uncle Gil recommended this! And we knew to travel in the Jeep not the RV. We barely even fit through the passage ways. 

Charlie was asking all day to see caves! We just happened to be in the right area. Jewel Cave & Wind Cave are some of the biggest in the world. Access roads to Jewel Cave were shut down so Wind Cave National Park it was. We did an hour tour of this 6th largest cave in the world. It has 140 miles of explored cave. They think that this is only about 5% of what's down there.  We only walked half a mile of it. Jason was bent over walking half the time but Charlie didn't have a problem;)

The area is also known for the wildlife. We kept telling the kids about bear cou try, and they were like "no way do we want to see bears". There is a herds of buffalo that rome parts of the area.  The park ranger at Mount Rushmore said Wind Cave was the largest herd and our best chance at seeing them. And we did!

We had left Saylor in the RV all day, with the air condition on. We were a little worried about her but she slept all day and was a good girl. It's exactly what she does at home too. I'm sure she needed a break from the roar of the engine, the movement and the kids too. 

How about this South Dakota sunset for the end of a full day? Kids were tired and slept great! 

Disclaimer: I'm using my iPhone and iPad for the blog & it doesn't have the capabilities like the desktop. So sorry the pictures and text are not all left sided or centered.