South Dakota: How We Spent Our Time

On our trip out west to Montana, we ended up breaking up the drive a little on the way there and on the way home. The phrase is usually 'against our better judgement', but in this case it was 'against our worse judgement.' We had fully planned on driving straight through, about 24 hours not counting stops, to get TO Montana and ended up staying in Madison Wisconsin for a night. We stayed on Lake Monona- it was gorgeous. From what we were able to see of the city, we LOVED it and will be back for sure. Because we were trying to stay distant from people, we didn't explore much outside of the car and stayed close to our Airbnb. We then continued on our drive through Minnesota and North Dakota before getting to Montana. 

Dinner with a view in Madison

A little taste of Madison- we will be back!

For the way home, we took a bit of a different route, this time driving a ton through Wyoming and South Dakota instead. We spent two nights in Custer, South Dakota and tried to jam in all we could into those two days before doing the rest of the trek back to Michigan. 

Here's how we spent our time...

Mt. Rushmore/Crazy Horse Monument:

I have never been that into Mt. Rushmore- I know it exists, I know it was a pretty cool act of ingenuity, I knew it had some president faces on it. It was not on any bucket list to see for me, in fact, I figured I never ever see it and that was okay. 

#hundtboysx4, however, are another story. I don't remember how they learned of it or when they got into it, but Mt. Rushmore is something they are all in love with. When we floated the idea of going to Montana, it was a no-brainer how much a visit to Mt. Rushmore would mean to them so we worked to make it happen! Did you know there is a secret room behind Lincoln that was meant to be a hall of records for important documents like the constitution? We tried to learn everything we could about the land, the construction, why those presidents were chosen, etc. 

We had heard Mt. Rushmore left a little to be desired so I think our expectations were quite low. What that meant, though, was that we were pleasantly surprised! It was awesome! The detailing was what struct me most, the eyes especially. I can't imagine the creativity, focus, and innovation it took to make that happen all those years ago.

These boys can never miss an opportunity to climb on rocks

We got there in the evening of our first night in Custer and may have only stayed about 45 minutes (there really isn't much to do there especially trying to stay outdoors and because there was construction), but it is still one of the favorite things we saw the whole trip for the boys. Preston can even say "Rushmore."

Learning about the history of the land made it feel super important to also check out the Crazy Horse Monument currently being built. We got to see a little piece of history and it rounded out our learning about the area is a great way! There also wasn't a ton to do there for similar reasons so we didn't stay long, but are super glad we saw it. 

Custer State Park:

After all the driving we did IN Yellowstone, we were so grateful to stay less than ten minutes from Custer State Park. We took a full day to explore! One of the first things we did was drive on Wildlife Loop Road- 18 miles of grassland and hills covered in pines. We had read it was a great place to see animals. We were honestly a bit disappointed at first because we had only seen two buffalo, but then we got up close and personal with donkeys and got to see bighorn sheep and, what I think, was two pronghorn deer fighting. 

Donkeys blocking traffic

After, we spent some time at Sylvan Lake. There, we could swim and enjoy a nice hike around the perimeter of the lake. We thought that seemed like a peaceful, fairly easy walk our family could do, but on one side of the lake, we hit a stretch with boulders and rocks and very uneven terrain. The boys insisted we push on. We did. However, I was wearing flip flops. Needless to say, we weren't prepared, but made it through. 

Walking around Sylvan Lake

Swimming in Sylvan Lake

Baby P climbing on more rocks

 On the way out of the park, we drove on the Needles Highway and went through the Needle's Eye- a tiny tiny little tunnel that barely fits your car. It was so fun and nerve-wracking. 

As if that day wasn't enough, on our way back to our Airbnb, a HUGE storm rolled in producing golf ball sized hail, which I've never seen before. It lasted two hours and left so much ice behind that the next day it was still on the grass. It looked like it had snowed. Even though our car got completely pelted and we were trapped in a parking lot that got flooded, we made the most of it by Face-Timing with our families to show them and Josh made snow angels outside in his bathing suit. 

Badlands National Park: 

After spending two days in Custer, we began our very long trek home. As we were driving, we made a stop at Badlands National Park to have lunch and explore a bit. Wow, was this place amazing! It was unlike anything I've ever seen and very much unlike all the prairie we were driving through. I wish we would've had more time to explore!

Now THIS is a view for lunch ;)

We absolutely LOVED our trip out to Montana and all the things we saw along the way. Spending so much time in nature was amazing and being able to show ourselves that we could do such a long road trip and survive was a win! 

Traveling with small children, with a lot of children, is not without difficulty, frustration, stress, and many, many moments of chaos. There are always times I want to go home (like when Preston wasn't sleeping for the first couple of days in Montana) or minutes when I think we can't possibly do this (like when I made everyone hike up a hill to get photos and it was a disaster) and moments when I think the travel was a huge mistake (like when you're on hour eighteen of a drive and all the kids are fighting with each other). Buuuuuuuut...

IT.IS.WORTH.IT.