Summer trip...

So, my finals for summer classes ended on June 18. We headed out for our family vacation on June 23. We decided that we would rent a motor home since we had a lot of driving to do. We could put little kids to bed early and wouldn't have to wake up teenagers too early. It was the perfect choice! We also loved the flexibility and comfort the motor home gave us.




We headed out in the evening after a very eventful day trying to get ready. We knew the motor home wouldn't be ready to go until around 1:00 so we were busy getting ready. My mom dropped Olin off to pick it up and they wouldn't let him have it since his driver's license had expired on his birthday in February. He called me to come get him. I picked him up and we headed to the DMV to get it renewed. While standing in line, my cell phone rang. It was Becca telling me that the motor home place had called. Jacob was there. He had been with Olin in the motor home and Olin forgot. Jacob wasn't scared a bit. They fed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and let him watch the video on how to take care of the motor home. Jacob was our motor home expert during the trip. He knew how to run everything.

So, when all that was taken care of, we drove. And drove. We ended up stopping at a rest area to sleep that night. When morning came, it was back to driving. The next town we came to was Casper, Wyoming. Jacob woke up and looked out the window and said "Oh good. I'm glad we aren't out in the middle of nowhere anymore." We decided not to tell him that Casper is out in the middle of nowhere.



We stopped at the Fort Casper museum there. It was great. They had the fort set up to walk through and the kids loved seeing all the old artifacts.



There was a replica of the Mormon Ferry and next to a short little walk out into a field. As we left to go on the walk, I thought to myself that this was the type of place that snakes like. A few minutes later, I heard a sound that was different from our foot steps. It was more like a slithering sound. Before I looked, I had decided that it was going to be a little garden snake. But when I saw it, I realized that it was much bigger than a garden snake. I gasped and then the kids saw it and freaked. My mom saw it and went for a stick. Olin said he didn't quite catch what was going on until everyone was on their way back. That pretty much ended that trip at the musuem....oh, we decided that the snake was a blue racer.

After the museum, we were on the road again. We headed to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. On the way to Mount Rushmore is a fun place called "Bear Country, USA". You stay in your car for most of it and drive through these habitats and see all kinds of different animals. Katie was worried, of course, that the animals could somehow find their way into the motor home. Emily was worried that the bears might jump onto the motor home and ruin it....we had only rented it you know!





The small animals were kept in a different habitat that we could walk around in. We really got a kick out of the little cubs. They were climbing a tree and boy! Can they climb....




We then drove the last little bit to Mount Rushmore. What an amazing sight!! I am so glad that we went. I am in awe at the men that risked their lives to carve that.
After enjoying Mount Rushmore, we decided to drive to Crazy Horse just over the hill. By the time we got there, it was dark but they have night time light shows. They had an excellent light show that was probably even better than just getting to see the Crazy Horse monument in the daylight.