The Black Hills in South Dakota...

The good news – diesel prices are down about 45 cents a gallon, the bad news – it’s still stinkin’ expensive!!!  We are making our way out of South Dakota today.  The last three days we’ve spent hooked up at an RV Park near Mt. Rushmore.  I have to admit, it was really nice having hook-ups – no need to worry about running out of water or filling our holding tanks.

Friday we took the kids to a place called Reptile Gardens.  We saw over 50 alligators, crocodiles, and caimans.  The girls each got to pet a baby alligator and an albino python.  I didn’t trust the guy after he jumped at me with the baby alligator –  I kept my distance (  There were also some giant turtles, a prairie dog town, and a bald eagle.

Saturday we spent several hours at Mount Rushmore.  The girls completed their first Junior Ranger badge (a program offered by the National Parks for kids – great for schoolwork!!)  It also buys us parents time to actually read the exhibits in the museum since the kids are busy looking for answers to complete their workbook!    After that we drove through Custer’s State Park looking for buffalo.  It took awhile, but we finally found a huge herd.  They were just moseying along the road – we were within five feet of them!  We also saw “wild” donkeys – they came right up to our window where we were able to pet them and feed them a healthy snack of chips.  We also saw a lot of wild antelope and deer.  We were hoping to go see Wind Cave – but we arrived too late to get a tour, so we just saw the video.  We’ll have to catch a cave somewhere else.  We drove by Crazy Horse Monument just as it was getting dark.  It’s big – but still is a long ways from completion.  We were also getting an amazing lighting show.  We got back to the bus just in time to get the upper room closed up before it rained (it’s not totally water tight when it’s set up).  It didn’t rain much – just enough to make a mess of our car (which looks like it’s caught on fire on the right side due to the wonderful exhaust the bus puts out!)  

We’ll, we’re at the Flying J now, fueling up (again!) – I better get this sent while I have an internet connection!  Our next major stop….The Mall of America in Minnesota!