Day Twelve

[Posted by Sarah] We had made it to Sheridan around 12:30pm after leaving Custer around 9pm the previous night. Joshua fell asleep immediately and it was a very pleasant drive (interesting correlation, yes? ;)

After we woke up and checked out of our hotel we drove into the downtown Sheridan area looking for breakfast. We hope to spend more time in Sheridan someday....the downtown was quaint but modern with a strong Old West theme and lots of shops. Plus Sheridan happens to be just east of the Bighorn Mountains....more on that in a moment.

We unfortunately got out of the hotel too late for breakfast and ended up eating at a Subway instead around 11am. The sandwiches were surprisingly good and fresh and we hopped into the car ready for another day of driving.

The locals recommended we take Highway 14A through the Bighorn Mountains and it ended up being THE MOST BEAUTIFUL drive of our trip. The pictures above are all from the descent down the mountains as we were too busy ooh-ing and aah-ing on the way up.

As we climbed the Bighorn Mountains from the Sheridan side there were tons of exposed rock faces. Signs along the way indicated the age of the rock and most sets were 300-500 million years old though there was one set dating billions of years old from the Pre-Cambrian age. For those of you who don't spend much time in natural history museums, the Pre-Cambrian age was when the oceans dominated and there was only single-cell and other very simple water-based life on earth. Wow!!!

On the way down the Bighorn Mountains there was an incredibly steep 10% grade. All vehicles - not just large trucks - were told to use a lower gear. The vistas were amazing!! None of the pictures above do justice to the incredible scope and beauty of what we saw on that stretch of drive.

Once down the mountains we stopped in Lovell for some ice cream at the Ice Cream Hut. Christopher was generous enough to let his brother Joshua eat some of his cone (see pictures above).

We arrived in Cody, Wyoming around 4:30pm and found a hotel downtown. We ate dinner at a restaurant next door and then spent some time playing in a public park across the street (see pictures above).

Tomorrow we leave for Yellowstone National Park!!

Day Eleven

[Posted by Sarah] Today was our last day in Custer and our last day in South Dakota. We are leaving in the evening to head to Sheridan, Wyoming in order to shorten the following two days of driving into Yellowstone.

In the morning Beau and Christopher had their chance at a trail ride starting from Blue Bell Stables in Custer State Park. Beau's horse was named Dakota and Christopher's horse was named Snazz. They had a great ride including spotting several deer and fording a stream up to the horse's knees (see pics above).

After their ride we had lunch at the Blue Bell Lodge and I got online to check out hotels for
the next several nights. As we were driving out of Custer State Park we drove up to Mt. Coolidge lookout, saw the same doe on the way up and way down, and took in the amazing views for miles around (see pics above).

Once we were back at the cabin we packed up. While Beau was cooking dinner, Christopher and I took another hike into the forest service land behind the cabin. We scared up a jackrabbit who ran across our path just feet in front of us (pic included we found online) and we also saw a male deer with a 4-6 prong rack. He was beautiful.

Around 9pm we got into the car. As we hoped, Joshua fell asleep right away and we made it into Sheridan, Wyoming about 12:30am.

Next stop is Cody, Wyoming and then into Yellowstone National Park.

Day Ten

[Posted by Sarah] We had reservations for a scenic tour of Jewel Cave at 11am. We made breakfast at the cabin then hopped in the car for the short drive to the cave.

Jewel Cave is the second longest cave in the world with over 140 miles of cave mapped. It was an absolutely amazing place. The scenic tour was about an hour and a half. You start by going down an elevator and then walking the 700+ stairs and concrete paths.

Jewel Cave is covered in a calcite crystal called dogtooth spar with lots of cool formations like flowstone and soda straws and draperies (see pictures above). Where the dogtooth spar has fallen from the walls it leaves large exposed edges of crystal. It was definitely one of favorite places on the trip so far.

Jewel Cave also happens to be a "breathing" cave such that when the barometric pressure is high, wind blows into and through the cave; and when the barometric pressure is low, wind blows through and out of the cave. Scientists who have measured the amount of wind flow in the cave think that the amount of wind indicates that only about 2% of the cave has actually been discovered!

After we toured Jewel Cave we came back to the cabin for lunch and then drove to Custer State Park. We hiked the Stockade Lake trail and it was quite the workout. But we got pretty high up and had great views of the surrounding area and the lake (see pics above).

Sweaty and tired we got into the van and Beau cooked us up an awesome dinner at the cabin. Christopher and Beau get to do a trail ride in the morning and in all likelihood we will pack up and head out Wednesday night so we don't have so far to drive on the next couple of days before Yellowstone.

Hard to believe our trip is half over. Only 8 more days and we'll be in Seattle again.

Day Nine

[Posted by Sarah] We had to check out of our house in Hill City by 10am and couldn't check into to our cabin in Custer until 3pm so we drove south to Hot Springs, South Dakota, to check out the Mammoth Site.

The Mammoth Site is an active archeological dig but housed inside the museum. The story goes that the land had been bought for a housing development but bones were found during early excavation work. A non-profit corporation was founded and purchased the property in order to preserve the fossils and continue digging and uncovering them.

The site was once a hot springs pool. When mammoths would go into the pool, the rocks were too slippery for them to get out. The mammoths and other animals who got caught in the pool would die and their bones became fossilized over time. We got lots of great pictures (see above).

The museum also had lots of interesting displays including a replica of a mammoth bone hut that was supposedly common in Russia and other eastern European areas as well as other Ice Age animals and artifacts.

After our tour of Mammoth Site we drove back to Custer and got settled in our cabin there. That evening we hiked into the Forest Service land behind our cabin (pictures above). Christopher spotted some deer tracks in the dirt and we also found a great orange mushroom.

Tomorrow we go to see Jewel Cave....

Day Eight

[Posted by Sarah] On Sunday afternoon we drove into Keystone. Christopher and Beau rode up the Mt. Rushmore Tram in order to come down 2000 feet on an alpine slide. You ride down the slide on a plastic piece with a stick that if you push forward makes you slide faster and if you pull back slows you down.

Afterwards they met me and Joshua nearby at a pizza place and I snapped a couple of good pictures of Christopher and Beau (see one above).

Afterwards Christopher and I took an hour-long trail ride. My horse was named Dodge and Christopher's horse was named Bummer (see pictures above). It was only the two of us and the trail guide, Barb. It was a great ride and we even trotted several times. A rabbit ran across the trail and let us watch him for a while before leaping back into the forest.

We headed back to the house and started packing up for the drive to Custer the next morning. Joshua spent time in his pack-and-play crib trying on his sunglassess while we packed (see pic above).

Day Seven

[Posted by Sarah] We spent much of the day just at our house in Hill City. We did go into town in the morning and have breakfast. Christopher loved the french toast so much he ordered a second slice.

After breakfast, while Beau and Joshua did some grocery shopping, Christopher and I shopped along the main drag. We found a beautiful wind chime for the house and Christopher finally found a sling shot (he was thrilled!).

After our morning in town we went back to the house and just hung out, watching some TV and playing Yu-Gi-Oh. We were tired after two days of driving and we had plans to go to the lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore that night.

We made dinner at the house and got into the van about 7pm to take the short drive to Mt. Rushmore. It had been raining on and off most of the afternoon and was still raining when we left. But we had seen storms like this come and go relatively quickly, so we kept our fingers crossed that it wouldn't be pouring when we got to Mt. Rushmore.

After parking at Mt. Rushmore you walk into the complex. There is a long walk with columns on both sides. Carved on each of the four faces of the columns are the names of individual states with their date of acceptance into the union and their state flag flying above it (see pictures above).

Although it was still drizzling when we first arrived the rain passed and we even got a rainbow (see picture above). We were able to take a ton of great photos of Mt. Rushmore before it got dark.

The lighting ceremony consisted of three parts. During the first a park ranger talks about the 4 presidents on the face of Mt. Rushmore - Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Then they show a short movie about the making of Mt. Rushmore as well as more information about each the 4 presidents. By then it is completely dark (about 9pm) and the faces of Mt. Rushmore are lit up. Beautiful!!

After the lighting ceremony the park ranger asked anyone who is serving or has served in the military to come up on stage. At Christopher's insistence Beau joined the crowd on stage and each person said their name and branch of service. Christopher took on the task of going up front and taking a ton of pictures (see above).

So obviously the highlight of the day was seeing Mt. Rushmore.