Day 2::Evans Plunge and Cascade Falls

Day 2 of our Black Hills Adventure....

Started out very wet.  To be honest, I don't much like hiking in the rain.  So after a completely mediocre coffee-making attempt with our new percolator from Wally World we we were pretty desperate to find some real coffee.  I think Ulz may have laughed at us for needing coffee....but hey!  Don't mess with coffee junkies, okay?

Ahhhhhhh.....nice, wonderful, hot COFFEE (not just hot water with a hint of coffee flavor)....I think we'll survive now.

Now then, where was I?

Oh yes.  It rained.  Most of the morning.  What to do with three restless kids?  

Off we went to Evans Plunge...which you can read about HERE.  

We'd read that Evans Plunge is a natural hotsprings that they had built a building and pool around.  As I was feeling pretty chilly a visit to a HOT SPRINGS seemed like a fantastic idea.  

Only, it really should have been called a warm springs because it was rather chilly!!  Brrrr!  And it cost a pretty penny to enjoy this chilly indoor swimming pool with about a hundred or so of your closest friends.  Sigh.  On the up side Annika LOVED the indoor slide and I honestly lost count of the number of times she went down it.  We saw there was an outdoor part to the pool but it seemed to chilly to be out there.  Ulz and Rafiqu also went down the slide countless times.  Even I went!  (and that's pretty darn amazing!!)  I forgot to take photos while we were swimming in the pool.  Oops.

Afterwards we enjoyed a picnic lunch....and explored some big, giant boulders.  Annika can't help herself when it comes to climbing on rocks.  It's just what she does!

Ava up on a rock.

Annika up on a Big Rock

Ulz had read in his guide book on the area (in German!) that there was a natural swimming hole not far away from Evans Plunge called Cascade Falls.  Since the weather had cleared up we decided to make a run for it.  

I'll admit I think we all preferred this swimming hole over the indoor swimming pool.

It took some time to get acclimated to the water temperature:

But everyone in the end managed to get a dip one of the pools along the waterfalls.  I was Keeper of the Clothing so there aren't photos of the kids in bathing suits.  The kids did decide pretty early on that the water was too chilly for them....which led to Ulz and Mark taking a BIG plunge into this deep pool:

and here's a better look at one of the water falls

After Ulz got out I decided it was my turn to jump in....and I did!  EEK!  That initial jump was CCCCOLD!  (although not as cold as it could have been as I think the river was fed by a hot spring) It felt so good after my body adjusted to the sudden shock to its system.  One of the families visiting this naturally occurring pool also collected sage along the road (so that's what that plant is!).  They said they used it for ceremonial purposes. Wish I knew what that meant.

Our tent at Comanche Campground:

Lots of lovely pine trees.  Most of them were alive.  Oh, we had fun camping here!  One night the kids played Power Kids (usually it's Power Girls but with the addition of Rafiqu it became Power KIDS).  The kids then came up with Super Powers for the adult males.  I think Ulz became Silly Boy.  He came up with a power that would cause people to laugh so hard they'd pee there pants and then they'd have to go home.  LOL!  That IS silly.  He also had some sort of power that would cause all of the generators on the RVs to quit working.  Now, that I could get on board with!  Those generators were really quite noisy!  And annoying.  Plus, doesn't it seem to defeat the purpose of being out in Nature if you're holed up in your RV watching TV?

I can't remember what Mark's Super Power was....I think he was Funny Boy.  We also really enjoyed making s'mores with my homemade marshmallows.

And that reminds me...I should make more!  (marshmallows are super easy to make and yummier than their store bought counterparts)...

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Custer State Park::Sylvan Lake & Cathedral Spire

After our visit to Mt. Rushmore we decided to see more of the beautiful Black Hills area...

with a visit to Custer State Park!

One of the park rangers at Mt. Rushmore suggested that Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park as an excellent place to go with kids.  He was right!  (also...excellent reminder to talk to the park rangers...they generally know the area)

SYLVAN LAKE:

Check out those rock formations!  They look like the Disney version of rocks.  They just didn't look real to me.

And check out this funny, one-person bike catamaran (okay...it's called a Hydrobike). I'm pretty certain I've never seen anything like it!  Mark rented it and all the adults to take it for a ride around the lake.  The lake is actually much larger than what these photos show...that big rock you see in the background is actually an island ...and the lake keeps going (but it's not huge).  

Do you see the beach with lots of people on it in the background?  After we ate our picnic lunch and after all the adults had a turn on the bike-boat-thingy we headed to that beach for some swimming.  It was a blast!  You can swim out that island (that big rock) and jump off of it.  There were lots of people diving off those rocks!  I'll admit that I wasn't brave enough to do that but I did swim around the island.

Our swimming adventures were cut short by a roll of thunder and some black clouds.  They didn't look very threatening but we still had to be the responsible adults and get out.  Instead of heading straight back to the car we walked around the lake (no photos...I was busy carrying Ava over slippery wet rocks).  

After our visit to Sylvan Lake we headed down the road (Needles Highway)...

Check out this tunnel!

Wonder if anyone ever gets stuck going through it?!

Stopped at a scenic overlook.  One of many...isn't the area amazing?

And we stopped to do a little hike to Cathedral Spires:  

Now...we never did get to the end of the trail...which apparently led to rock-climbing rocks and connected up with other trails.  Annika was our little rock climber...bounding up whatever giant rocks she was allowed to climb on.

Whereas Ava needed more convincing to go on the walk.  Okay, a lot more convincing!  I can say this as a definite Truth: flip flops make bad hiking shoes!  (part of Ava's problem)

After our hike we headed back to our campsite at Comanche Campground....

but not before we saw this:

Bison!  (or called buffalump by some in our family)

And lots of 'em!

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Mt. Rushmore...or Bust!

On our first day in the Black Hills area we visited one not fogged in Mount Rushmore (we had one previous visit to Mt. Rushmore where we couldn't see the monument at all as it was so completely and totally foggy)...

Here is Mount Rushmore in all of its Glory:

Please note:  "Be Safe" while visiting Mount Rushmore.  I'd think it'd be better just to Be Safe.

Meet Rafiqu!  

He and his Dad (Ulz) were our traveling companions.  Just for the record, if it wasn't for Ulz's suggestion we probably wouldn't have done this awesome camping trip!  The girls loved playing with Rafiqu.  On his way to Mount Rushmore, Rafiqu lost one tooth and was in the process of losing another wiggly top front tooth!

Note to self:  There are a lot of other people at the monument over the Fourth of July weekend!  (they offered lots of programs but sadly no fireworks as the danger of forest fire was too great- which I believe to be true as there were so many dead trees in the area!)

Required: Family Photo in front of the monument with some eyes shut tight (it was very sunny).

Looking up the Presidents' noses.  Hello, Mr. President!

Can you name the four presidents?

Okay... enough of the photo taking!!!!

It was such a hot day and since Rafiqu lost some teeth we had to celebrate with ice cream!

And this visit was only part of one day....

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Wallcome to Wall Drug

At the beginning of July we blasted across Minnesota and South Dakota to make our way to the Black Hills of South Dakota (and then westward to Yellowstone).  Of course no drive on I-90 is complete without a stop to the oddly amusing, very touristy stop:

Wallcome to Wall Drug in South Dakota!

Their Claim to Fame:  

(free ice water)

Wall Drug is a very large tourist compound with just about everything you can think of (and, surprisingly enough, a drug store)....including this homemade ice cream shop....

and of course you can't miss this giant Jack Rabbit Thingamabob - which Mark just informed me is called a Jackalope.  

or this animatronic T-Rex who moved every and roared every 15 or 20 minutes.  Ava and I watched from afar.  LOL!

Certainly have to browse through the hats collection...I'm sure we'll find one that will fit.

Hmmm...maybe not this one.

Wall Drug is just One of Those Places...the kind that has billboards advertising its location hundreds of miles away.  We've stopped here once before on our crazy drive to the gorgeous Northwest (Ava was six months old then).  We just can't help stopping here for a driving break.  Plus, it's just fun to see all the craziness that exists within this complex.  (oh, we did enjoy browsing through the Rock Shop).  It's just something you have to experience...ONCE.  Or maybe TWICE.  

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Cherry Picking :: 2010

As most of you probably know - we don't miss a chance to go berry picking.  Even when we're jet lagged from a week-long trip to Finland.  And on a time zone seven hours ahead.

And let me tell you ...Michigan is The Place to go if you want cherries (or blueberries or peaches or...).  

So, we arrived back in Michigan (the girls were staying with Mark's wonderful family) on Friday and had a few hours to recover before we went on a cherry picking excursion on Saturday.  

Check out these beauties (aren't they the most gorgeous color?):

First stop....pick sour cherries.  We tried to tell the kids that they weren't meant for straight up eating but did they listen?  No. And they were surprised that they weren't sweet.  Yes, that's what SOUR means!  

The kids got a little bored with picking sour cherries but when we switched to SWEET cherries...oh my!  Watch out!

goofy Ava with about five cherries in her bucket.  Can you guess where most of the cherries she picked went?

Getting a little boost.

What?  No, I'm not eating a cherry....

Oh wait!  Yes, I did eat that cherry!

Happy kids after all that cherry picking....that is until a few hours later when they all wondered what had hit their bowels.  LOL!

I don't remember exactly but I think we picked something like 70 lbs of cherries that day.  A lot anyway.  And all of them tasty!  And some were even turned into lovely pies as made by Aunt Beth later that day.  Woo hoo!

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