Picture Proof

Badlands

Sun rising over grain bin - Arlington, SD

Buffalo- Custer St.Park

Prairie in the distance - from base of Mt. Rushmore

We are back and I have had a chance to download the pics from our trip. I haven't had a chance to even crop one. But, in my excitement I threw a bunch up on my flickr page. Once there, I would recommend clicking on the "Black Hills Trip Set" this is where I took the time to put the pics in some sort of order. Thanks!

Go have a peek if you want :)

Black Hills

Here is a little animoto video of our trip. I will post more pics later. Enjoy
Make your own here.

Trippin'

I am up to my cyber neck in trip planning. How did this sneak up so quickly? Wow...
I have traveled from one end of South Dakota to the other before and I am amazed at how wonderful the tourism people have made the state look on their tourism website ;)
I especially like the interactive travel planner. I have named the virtual trip planning lady Carole- just cuz.

The trip planning has been made quite simple for us since most things don't open until May 1st (can't go if it's not open)

I believe the itinerary is as follows.
Leave after school Friday and drive to see family outside of Fargo, ND.
Leave early on day 2 with a stop in Pierre, SD to see the state capital.
We will then arrive late and stay at the cute little Foothills Inn only $39 for the night.

Whoa! Scratch that! Good thing I snuck this blog in today. While link all of these places I discovered that the pool at the Foothills Inn is OUTSIDE! The high will maybe be 50 degrees if we are lucky! Obviously the pool is closed.

We will now be staying at the Econo-Lodge, which should be interesting since it has really bad reviews! But we will be there for a very limited number of hours, just a place to lay our head and swim. Day 3 will be spent at Mt. Rushmore and the surrounding area. Monday is day 4. A trip back in time will be in order. I have Mammoth Site of Hot Springs and the Pioneer Historical Museum planned for that day. We will spend the last day around the water park at our hotel before heading back across the plains of South Dakota. We will stop and see family on the way home. If time permits we will visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's homestead in DeSmet.

That is our trip in a nutshell. Now, onto a nap. I am exhausted and I haven't even left my computer chair. I guess it is the idea of herding 4 kittens, oh I mean kids across the plains, through the badlands, and back again. Ear plugs, and portable DVD player will be the first things packed I assure you.
~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~ Side Note-
Does anyone have any great solutions for saving money on food while traveling? We are feeding 6 people and can't afford a restaurant for every meal. Our hotels do provide breakfast, so that meal is free. However, we always end up spending more money than I can bear when it comes to food on our vacation. Even a stop at the grocery ends up being $20-25 a stop. Leave me any suggestions you may have, or things that have worked for you. I always love and appreciate your comments.