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)...