Short version of today

There are a lot of pics below in the last 4 posts so check them out!

Today we drove to Custer, SD and checked into the Beaver Lake Campground. This one will be on the list too. Now, our site is not shaded, but instead we have a HUGE grassy area between our vehicles for the kids to run around in. Super nice. So big that we don't have to worry about Robby - he doesn't have the attention span to crawl far enough in one direction to get into any trouble. Heavenly. And obviously the internet is solid here.

This area of South Dakota is called the Black Hills, and the drive from Rapid City down to here is just flat out gorgeous. I don't say this kind of thing too often, but I really fell in love with this place almost immediately. Now don't get me wrong, the drive is full of a little bit of mini-Gatlinburg tackiness, but it totally adds to the charm. I wish we had more time to explore here...but as I like to say...now we have a reason to come back.

I could totally live here.

We went to Mt. Rushmore. Well, duh, you have to do that. And as someone with no penchant for MINDLESS displays of patriotism, I wasn't sure what I'd think. Well, it's really extremely tasteful and impressive. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Now of course we have a silly number of pictures...and as you're taking them you realize that you don't need this many pictures of the same thing from a million slightly different angles....but you feel like you should be taking them anyway. My editing skills will be put to the test on that one. I have to say however, that the most impressive thing for me wasn't the faces on the mountain...it was in the parking garage - a true display of just what a shrine this is in the American imagination. I had to walk down two rows of cars until I saw a second license plate from the same state. In our row alone were Utah, Alaska, Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, and us from Ohio to name a few.

Came back to Custer, ate at the Purple Pie Place...well...my Bumbleberry pie was good - everyone else's was not as good as you'd expect from a restaurant with "Pie" in its name. But we never expected this trip to be a culinary wonderland either.

And we're back. So now I am ALMOST caught up on pics - will hopefully upload another couple days tomorrow and the next day and will be all caught up.

Tomorrow is Custer State Park. Lots of wildlife and Sylvan Lake. Apparently had a big part in the second National Treasure movie...but as you all know, Nick is on my 'list'. So I wouldn't know.

Bye all!