Black Hills June 26

We arrived in the black hills around 5 pm. We met up with our friends, the Coltons, from Nebraska and transferred Grandma Lynn. She will be staying with them until we travel to Nebraska on July 5. We found out that it is another 110 miles to Devil's Tower so we changed our plans and are staying in a campsite by the Reptile gardens and Bear Country on highway 16 in the Black Hills. We canceled our reservation at Devil's Tower. (Matt still expects us to rent the movie, Close Encounters when we return since he cannot see it at the campground--it was supposed to show every evening)

Those plans looked good on a map but not once we had traveled 1150+ miles. We have a nice campsite close to everything. The boys went swimming right away. We went to Crazy Horse monument last night to see the lazer show. They also had a special occasion last night. To Honor ruth's 82nd birthday and the 60th anniversary of starting Crazy Horse (in June) they had a night blast right after the lazer show. It was spectacular to say the least! They exploded a large area around the horses head. It was a series of blasts that spiked into the air and the concusion was felt from it. On top of that, they had blasts that started at the top of the monument and went cascasding down the work roads and outlined the face of the horse. It was so awesome to see. Our bodies were rocking with the shaking of the blasts. It was worth staying up for last night after our 2nd day on the road.

While we were waiting a severe thunderstorm rolled through. After it passed by, we sat in the car waiting and watched the lightning light up the memorial and the tops of the clouds. We all loved watching nature's awesome show of lights.

The drive out was not too bad. On Wednesday, Steve said at the 600 mile point that he was ready to be done! We went 776 miles on day one. Crossing the Mississippi River into Minnesota was a highlight. It was cloudy and rainy most of the way.

On Thursday the 26 we leisurely drove across South Dakota. We only had 350 miles so we stopped at the Corn Palace (thanks Tim and LouAnn Palmer for the recommendation). This was a great side trip and amazing to see. Cabela's store is also located in the same town, Mitchell South Dakota. We saw signs for Philip, South Dakota. Our Philip loved that. We saw antelope along the side of the highway, badlands (better views than I saw 2 years ago when I was out here) and gorgeous prairie land. We also stopped at the Missouri River. There was a Lewis and Clark Display at the scenic overlook because I-90 crosses the might Mo at the place where Lewis and Clark camped going and returning from their incredible adventure. Gorgeous view from these bluffs above the river.