God has made so much BEAUTY! Day 2

WOW -- this was an amazing day!

God has created so much beauty!!!

THUS the PICTURE HEAVY post :)

Thankfully, we all got the much needed rest LAYING IN A BED!!!

We left early --

The farm land is unbelievable.  HUGE fields -- 

Yes, we love looking at it!

1st stop -- Badlands National Park

For those of you thinking about the trip I will add the required fees ;)  $15 to enter -- it is good for a week.

We did a little reading about this area and when we arrived -- we LOVED it!

It was HOT -- 

AND

There was a bit of walking -- lots of climbing by some in our family ;)

BUT

It was amazing -- It almost looks like when we are at the beach making sand castles and dripping the wet sand on the top.  BUT this was HUGE!!!

6 of us are in the picture -- just not all at the same level.

We actually spent a couple of hours here as the boys really liked climbing around --

 MD always went for the HIGHEST place!

1st oops -- MD realized he brought 2 of the same feet shoes that he hikes in -- YES, he liked them so much when they wore out he bought the exact pair. Hmmmmm....who is this like?????  Thankfully, he wears the same size as his dad ;)

2nd stop -- Custer State Park

$15 for a week pass

Again, we did some reading about this place -- and our goal was to see wildlife.  
Yep, we did that!!!

Within the first few minutes we saw buffalo.

We decided to take the Wildlife Loop --

We saw prairie dogs, donkeys, mountain goats, pronghorn deer and buffalo.

The buffalo basically take charge.  When they cross the road -- everyone STOPS 

The boys decided that we would take Iron Mountain Road to Mount Rushmore.  This is the scenic route.

On our way out of Custer State Park we encountered ANOTHER buffalo.  He was actually all alone but refused to get out of the road :)

Iron Mountain Road at times was just a bicycle path -- no worries -- 2 paths really -- 
It was also curvy AND hilly -- We were about 5400 ft. elevation.

There was 3 different tunnels -- all were single lane, so you honk your horn -- LOTS ;)

BUT the real beauty of 2 of the tunnels is when driving thru the opening actually frames Mt. Rushmore.  BEAUTIFUL!!!

The opening.

About 1/2 way through and you can see Mt. Rushmore.

When you come through the opening -- yes, I zoomed in.

3rd stop -- Mount Rushmore National Park.
$11 required parking fee -- good for 1 year.

We walked into the monument and it was really beautiful.

Matt captured some very nice pictures!

Although, I had some very nice surprises on my camera when I downloaded.  MD had taken the camera and snapped some UPCLOSE pictures of some of the kids.  LOVE!

JM

Elizabeth -- who did great today walking -- even though it was a LOT for her.

My Darling -- looking a tad sassy!

It was an EXTREMELY bright late afternoon.  So -- it was actually hard to capture good pictures.  
ALTHOUGH, there was a very nice girl that knew something about taking pictures AND she did snap some nice ones of our entire family!

There is a nice hike here BUT it was getting late -- like 7:00 pm and we were all starving and still did not have a room booked for the night.  So, we made one last stop -- the gift shop.

The kids met the last living person that worked on monument. 
My Darling was thrilled to get his book.  She LOVES history and has already read most of the book and relayed the important information to us.

We left and found a place to eat in town and settled on a nice hotel that actually had a balcony with a view of Mt. Rushmore.  

Yes, it was a very long day BUT unbelievable -- actually!
We were all tired but we saw some BEAUTIFUL creation and had a nice time all together in the van.