The Royal Family in 2008

Been There, Done That ... Part 1 X3

Have you ever been to Mount Rushmore? I've been there 3 times. I went on whim with my friend Ann and her sister back in the early nineties. The Queen and I went on our Honeymoon in 1996, and this past summer we loaded up the kids plus our niece and headed out on a 2 week vacation to the western frontier and made Mount Rushmore our first major stop.

Mount Rushmore is great, but it isn't the only thing to do and see in the Black Hills area of South Dakota.

Just 20 minutes away from Mt. Rushmore is Jewel Cave National Monument. It was really interesting and the kid were able to earn there Junior Ranger badges there.

Next we drove 20 minutes south to Wind Cave Nat'l Park. The kids said they liked this cave better than Jewel Cave, and I would have to agree with them.

When we left Wind Cave NP we drove south to the town of Hot Springs to get gas, and on our way we saw some bison and a coyote along the side of the road. As you can well imagine the kids thought that was too cool.

After getting gas we drove back north about 30 minutes to Crazy Horse Memorial. The Queen and I found it odd that the kids said this was their favorite place that we went to in SD. The memorial isn't even finished, but they do have a great museum and we did get to see a laser show (I slept through it) on the side of the mountain where the carving is going on.

All of the pictures and snippets above represents one day of fun in the black hills.

On our way into the Rapid city area the day before we drove through Badlands Nat'l Park. It was so hot ... 107 degrees ... but it was beautiful.

We also stopped at the famous Wall Drug Store. All the way across I-90 going west there are signs every few miles advertising Wall Drug Store and offering free ice water for thirsty travelers. When the Queen and I went there on our honeymoon we saw a sign that offered a free doughnut to traveling newlyweds, so we asked for our and got them . The kids had a big time there. Besides there being a million souvenirs to spend there money on, they had all kinds of cheesy props in which to take their pictures on and with. They were also able to cool off from the 100+ temperature by playing in the water spouts that came out of the ground.

On our way out of the Blackhills/Rapid City we drove through Custer State Park. We also stopped in a little town and ate at a cafe where the Princess, Prince 1 and I added to our wild west experience and ordered buffalo burgers.

So, if you're looking for a great "Been There Done That" place to go ... I suggest you go to the Blackhills/Rapid City area of South Dakota. As you can see from our pictures that there is quite a bit to do ... We could have stayed another two days and still not have seen everything there is to see.