The Badlands

The edge of the Badlands, where lush prairie meets a desolate landscape.  We could have detoured an extra 4 hours to drive all the way through it, but we needed to continue our drive through South Dakota, Nebraska, and back to Colorado.











This area is similar to the Grand Canyon, except it's not quite as deep and there is little color variation in the layers of the rock.  Your depth perception plays tricks on you looking into this canyon.











The kids had fun posing for pictures here.  Although it may look dangerous, they are not very close to the edge.  My guess is that many lives, or cattle, have been lost here over the years.  If you do accidentally fall down, it's all gravel, and too loose to climb back up.













One last family picture (without the photographer, of course).  There were a few local Indians selling trinkets at the top of the hill, but we didn't bother them to ask for a full family photo.  It was time to hit the road for a long drive back to Colorado.







But the kids were troopers with all the driving.  As the little one would fall asleep, we enjoyed peace & quiet for a few hours.  Then, when it was time to wake her up, we played "Call Me, Maybe" through the car speakers and a little voice would start singing under the blanket.  Precious!

Mount Rushmore

As we left the grasslands and headed toward the center of South Dakota, the terrain quickly changed again to rolling hills and granite mountains.  It was evening, so the picture isn't as bright as I'd like, but still beautiful.

Close to the hotel was an indoor water park, fed by a natural hot spring.  The boys decided to "plunge" into the water while the girls toured a mammoth site.

At the water park, Eric was the only person in the Tarzan ring challenge to make it halfway across the water.







Early the next morning, we finally got to see Mount Rushmore!  From a distance, it looks small, but still very detailed.  Just in case you didn't know, the 4 presidents are:  Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lincoln.  It was constructed during WWII, at the time that FDR was president, which is why you can always remember it's Teddy on there, not FDR.

As we hiked along the Presidential trail, the little one spotted a billy goat grazing on a shrub.  Once we stopped to take some pictures, undercover FBI started talking into their imaginary microphones alerting their partners of a distraction in the park.  Hmm, I would think they'd focus on more threatening terrorists.  But, I appreciate them keeping us safe.





One last picture of the presidents during the closest part of our trail.  Here, we could actually see the spectacles on Teddy's eyes.  The original plans were to carve full busts of each president, with their coats, arms, hands, etc.  However, after seeing the labor, costs, and time involved in just the faces, he stopped there.