Big Summer Trip, Badlands, Wall, and Rapid City

Day 7 (Friday) - We woke up and got all packed up.  We drove and saw some cool badlands to go climb on, actually right close to our cabin.  It is pretty easy to get up, but not as easy to get down.  Katsu had the 3 older boys and they went right up.  I took Noah up some, but then was kind of scared about getting down with him, so the two of us kind of slid down on our butts the long way.  The other boys found a much better way down and met us.

I think we also went back to the visitors center and got our badges in the morning, but we might have down that the evening before.  Andrew, Logan, and I think Noah got their Junior Ranger badges.

We did the rest of the Badlands loop road.  We didn't stop at every turnoff this time, but lots of them.  The views were incredible.  There was one area with tons of different colors that was especially beautiful.  We stopped and did the fossil trail, but didn't really see any fossils, so that was kind of disappointing.  We were going to go take a dirt road down to a prairie dog town, but didn't want to risk it.  Well, it worked out because we saw TONS of prairie dog town.  Seriously, the prairie dogs were everywhere.  We walked over through this field to one and watched the dogs - of course, I think the boys scared them all off.  Andrew was convinced that he kept hearing rattlesnakes everywhere and that at one point several of them were chasing him and I think Logan.  I really think he was just hearing bugs, but Andrew seriously should have lived in the days of tall tales, because he is perfect at making those.

We decided to stop at Wall Drug.  Everyone says it is a must stop.  It is, in fact, not a must stop. Everything was too expensive, so we decided to go elsewhere for lunch.  The boys wanted to do the arcade or the rock mining, but it was all too expensive so we just took some kitschy pictures with the jackalope and the little Mt. Rushmore and continued on.

We stopped briefly at the National Grasslands Visitor Center and watched the film and Andrew, Logan, and Noah all got their junior ranger badges.

There was no where else to eat in Wall that sounded appetizing, so we drove on toward Rapid City.  We went to Dinosaur Park first, this old, kitschy, but really awesome park full of dinosaur statues that has the best view from Rapid City.  They had a hot dog stand, so we got some lunch for cheap, including a root beer float for me once Noah woke up from his car nap.  It was a really nice stop, met some really friendly people and loved the view and the way cooler weather than the Badlands.

Next, we went to Storybook Island, another old, kitschy park, but again free and awesome.  It has like every Disney and other beloved child's character in the park with all kinds of old slides and playground equipment.  I have never seen anything quite like it.  The kids thought it was great and the rain more or less stayed away, so we spent some great time here.

Then, we drove to the rental and met up with my parents.  Along the way in Rapid City, we stopped to see most of the presidential statues, which Noah and Logan loved looking for.  Andrew and Seth may have looked up from their DSes.  Another great day.