Due to all the road closures and detours, we headed out the door at 5:30am! Our first stop was Devils Tower, however, that was about 7 1/2 hours away, so we had several miles of road ahead of us. Jordyn enjoyed rummaging through her activity bag i put together which kept her quite busy, and Jake is generally quiet, so we had great traveling companions in the back seat. About an hour or so from Devils Tower, Jordyn started asking how much further...so we popped in a movie and they were good to go! I wish we had that option back in the day when we were kids :)
When we arrived at Devils Tower, it was 103 degrees, so none of us wanted to spend too much time in the sun! We spent a lot of time in Devils Tower Trading Post though, where there was plenty of air conditioning and fun souvenirs.
The cashier told us we could get a great photo from their back porch, so we headed out back and got this fabulous shot!
Then we headed into the park and checked out the visitors center and naturally took more photos of this monumental wonder!
Jordyn and i were quite fascinated with the legends of devils tower, so i took a photo of this painting and included one of the legends to share...
All around the base of the tower are these hilarious prairie dogs. We have them in our neck of the woods too...but for some reason, Jordyn became quite enamored of them....
which aided in her souvenir decision...the first of many plush toys on this road trip :)
After Devils Tower, it was time to head over to Deadwood. We originally planned to drive through Spearfish, but since it was getting late, we decided to skip it. (which was a good thing, since it turns out there was a fire there). After all the heat and walking around, both kids sacked out in the back seat for a while...
Jordyn is somewhere under that map...
Next stop....Deadwood, South Dakota ~
The town has changed a lot since i was here as a kid...namely, its a gambling town now...therefore, most of these charming little shops are actually casinos. We had a different destination though...
At the edge of town is the Broken Boot Gold Mine, which was nice and cool inside compared to the heat outside, so we enjoyed that tour immensely! A bat decided to join us on the tour and flew in as we entered and hung out near the entrance.
Afterwords, Jordyn and Jake learned how to pan for gold...
not enough to retire on...but enough to put in a little souvenir container to take home!
While in Deadwood, we stopped in at the Mt. Moriah Cemetery to pay our respects to a few old west legends...
James Butler Hickok....better know as Wild Bill Hickok
Martha Jane Canary...better known as Calamity Jane
and Seth Bullock...the first sheriff of Deadwood!
They had a regular lap pool, and then there was this little water park...complete with water slides, fountains, pirate ships, and squirting fish! (theres Jordyn on the blue whale).
It was the perfect end to a long hot drive in the car, and we all had a blast splashing around!!!
Day One of the road trip was a complete success!!!!
2 comments:
That sounds like an awesome road trip. I'd love to go west and see all the sites and panning for gold would be pretty cool.
Ooooh love travelling along with you. Isn't it amazing when there is something odd in the landscape (like a sudden big rock) there is always a legend? So interesting!
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