And these Badlands start treating us good
Monday - 6/23
Wow, what a day.
We slept in as the kids did not get to bed until after 11. Slow start, but isn't that what this time off is supposed to allow?
We pulled out of the Mitchell KOA around 11 AM and headed to the Corn Palace. Now, I had been here twice, but never got to stop, so this was a must see for me.
I felt the kids would either say "And my Dad made us visit the Corn Palace" or "That was really cool!".
Well the consensus is it was pretty impressive. They tear the corn off every year and spend a few months putting 300,000+ ears (split in half) back on to make murals.
On the inside are stories about the history, pictures from many of the years and a gym that hold 3500 for basketball games.
Enough tacky. On to some history.
We headed on down the road, and made a stop at the Lewis and Clark Expedition exhibit. The kids balked about the forced history lesson, but were impressed and did learn some new things about the expeditions. Jackson thought it was pretty cool that they hunted for their food. Thousands of deer, 43 black bears and even some dogs for food.
Charlotte learned that Columbus did not sail looking for gold, but for a direct route for spices. Almost 200 years later, and they were still looking for a direct route to the Far East. We talked about the Continental Divide and all the routes that they tried. Saw examples of the boats and the supplies that they took along.
Great fun.
On to Al's Oasis for lunch. I wanted to try a buffalo burger, the kids wanted McD's drive thru.
Once we got lunch ordered, and we let them head to the gift shop they changed their minds. No gift shop at McD's. Wendy and I finished lunch with a 5 cent cup of coffee. And I thought McDonald's had Starbucks beat on price.
A couple hours later and we approached the Badlands. We told the kids to look out the window as the first scenes started appearing on the horizon. The DVD players were turned off and they were looking at the scenery. Wow, what a change. 
We pulled into Badlands and pulled over at the first spot that had trail heads. All of us donned our hiking boots and the kids went flying off over the rocks. We had to keep pulling them back as they all wanted to head over the cliffs to see what was there.
Really great to see the excitement and hear their appreciation for the beauty of this area. If this is any indication of things to come, this will be a great trip.
On to the Badlands KOA. Very nice park. We picked up some firewood as the Jackson wanted a campfire. Georgia and Jackson then wanted marshmallows, so I let them run back to the store. I cooked burgers on the new Weber grill for Jackson and I. Charlotte decided that she wanted to cook her own dinner on an open fire.
She made a Hobo Stew, potatoes, carrots and corn wrapped in foil. Unfortunately, I was not watching as she proceeded to put the foil wrapped food right in the heart of the flames. It was toasted black. We will give it another shot soon, but this time in some hot coals with a little butter.
Looking forward to more hiking here on Tuesday, then on to Rushmore.
Wow, what a day.
We slept in as the kids did not get to bed until after 11. Slow start, but isn't that what this time off is supposed to allow?
We pulled out of the Mitchell KOA around 11 AM and headed to the Corn Palace. Now, I had been here twice, but never got to stop, so this was a must see for me.
I felt the kids would either say "And my Dad made us visit the Corn Palace" or "That was really cool!".
Well the consensus is it was pretty impressive. They tear the corn off every year and spend a few months putting 300,000+ ears (split in half) back on to make murals.
On the inside are stories about the history, pictures from many of the years and a gym that hold 3500 for basketball games.
Enough tacky. On to some history.
We headed on down the road, and made a stop at the Lewis and Clark Expedition exhibit. The kids balked about the forced history lesson, but were impressed and did learn some new things about the expeditions. Jackson thought it was pretty cool that they hunted for their food. Thousands of deer, 43 black bears and even some dogs for food.
Charlotte learned that Columbus did not sail looking for gold, but for a direct route for spices. Almost 200 years later, and they were still looking for a direct route to the Far East. We talked about the Continental Divide and all the routes that they tried. Saw examples of the boats and the supplies that they took along.
Great fun.
On to Al's Oasis for lunch. I wanted to try a buffalo burger, the kids wanted McD's drive thru.
Once we got lunch ordered, and we let them head to the gift shop they changed their minds. No gift shop at McD's. Wendy and I finished lunch with a 5 cent cup of coffee. And I thought McDonald's had Starbucks beat on price.
A couple hours later and we approached the Badlands. We told the kids to look out the window as the first scenes started appearing on the horizon. The DVD players were turned off and they were looking at the scenery. Wow, what a change. We pulled into Badlands and pulled over at the first spot that had trail heads. All of us donned our hiking boots and the kids went flying off over the rocks. We had to keep pulling them back as they all wanted to head over the cliffs to see what was there.
Really great to see the excitement and hear their appreciation for the beauty of this area. If this is any indication of things to come, this will be a great trip.
On to the Badlands KOA. Very nice park. We picked up some firewood as the Jackson wanted a campfire. Georgia and Jackson then wanted marshmallows, so I let them run back to the store. I cooked burgers on the new Weber grill for Jackson and I. Charlotte decided that she wanted to cook her own dinner on an open fire.
She made a Hobo Stew, potatoes, carrots and corn wrapped in foil. Unfortunately, I was not watching as she proceeded to put the foil wrapped food right in the heart of the flames. It was toasted black. We will give it another shot soon, but this time in some hot coals with a little butter.
Looking forward to more hiking here on Tuesday, then on to Rushmore.