Our first full day in the Black Hills started with breakfast at the hotel. I made Parker's back in our room after surveying the buffet options. There wasn't much the kids liked, but I did take cereal for snack time and enjoyed the biscuits and gravy for myself.
We got going pretty early. One of the main reasons we stayed in Hilly City was to be close to many of the main attractions. It was just a 20 minute drive to Mount Rushmore. We arrived a little before 8:00 and practically had the place to ourselves.
We explored the museum a little and the kids had fun running up and down the amphitheater stairs.
We walked the Presidential Trail, which is relatively new I am told. It's just over 1/2 mile and offers the closest views. It also has 422 total steps, but was a nice jaunt.
We stopped to check out the Minnesota state flag on our way out. It was already becoming much busier by the time we were back at the top.
The next stop was Cosmos Mystery Area. One of my suppliers at work recommended it and said it was one of the best stops during their trip. It's a place where the laws of nature don't seem to apply (if you choose to believe that.)
Heights changing despite the slabs being level.
Trees being pulled down. Parker was not quite sure what was going on the in the wild and wacky house. He lost all trust for future new activities after this one.
Shrinking and expanding Herrmanns!
Day 3 of ice cream was a cookie ice cream sandwich!
This video shows some of our stop at Mount Rushmore and some more of the crazy things we saw at Cosmos.
We were back at the hotel for a quick swim and lunch before heading out for two more places.
Jewel cave is about 30 minutes south of Hill City. It is the third longest cave in the world at over 200 miles and more is being explored each year.
We opted for the the short Discovery Tour which was about 20 minutes. We took an elevator down about 200 feet to the Target room. Parker was fine until we walked in to the cave, then he was pretty distraught. Like I said, I think the Cosmos area messed with him a bit. Overall he did well listening to me and Esme was very sweet and helped comfort him.
We passed Crazy Horse on our way to the cave, but made a stop on our way back. This is an active construction site, so you can't get too close. The kids held hands as we walked in which was just about the cutest thing ever. We took a bus ride that went closer to the monument and learned more about it from our driver as well.
We walked through the grounds a bit once off the bus. The Nature Gates include brass cutouts of 219 animals native to South Dakota. Present and past species included (can you spot the dinosaurs?)
This is a neat view of what the final sculpture will look like compared with current progress.
We went for one more relaxing dip in the pool after supper.
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